About That Favor
by M. Bautista
Summary: SEQUEL TO YIN AND YANG. It's been five years since that hole mess and Brooke's got her own life together and situated...or so it seems. What happens when Chase finds out everythings not so picture perfect?
1. 5 Years Later

**SOoO… This is my first sequel to anything and I got to say, sequels are harder to rite than originals. Well, please read it and so forth. I'm, also open to suggestions. U know, things you wanna see happen. Yes ive got a plot laid down, but nothing's set in stone. **

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Brooke stood there in her wedding dress, gazing through the mirror at the man with long black hair standing behind her.

She found it funny that most women on their wedding day, had there moms, or friends in the room before the ceremony. Her, she had a 1500 year old Heylin mastermind with her.

It was a very small room with only a dresser, a chair, and a mirror in it. The shape of the room was essentially square-like and was very boring.

"I'm sorry Chase. I've got too many people I care about," she said sadly, now averting her gaze from his.

"You're as stubborn as ever," Chase responded, his sight never faltering. "Very well. I have warned you and that's as far as my control over the situation reaches."

Brooke turned around so that she was now facing Chase directly and pulled down the veil which lay upon her head.

"The ceremony starts in ten minutes." She said and made her way past Chase towards the door to leave, but as she came side by side to him, he stuck out his arm and she crashed chest first into it.

"Chase, what're you-"

"Just as stubborn as ever." He interrupted her.

**OOPS, IM SORRY, let me rewind here just a second.**

Brooke Soyan was at work, sitting behind the clerk desk of the antique shop that she owned. It was in a building with two rooms, a front and a back. The front was typical of a shop. Front glass window and the rest of the walls were covered in shelves that held all sorts of trinkets.

It was actually just a bunch of junk she found in the family's storage collected over the two millenniums they had been about.

_My family._

Brooke let out a groan of frustration as thoughts of her family flooded her mind.

It had been five years since her family crisis…and Chase. A lot had happened since then.

Ace, as well as the rest of the family who had been pulled into Hiranu's trap for Caliph and Brooke, apologized a million time and begged for forgiveness. Once it was granted, they resumed their normal lives as though nothing had happened. Ace continues to dislike Caliph.

Caliph was now head of the family, as planned, and he regrouped everyone in the clan to good ol' New York. He was in charge of the family business, which Brooke wanted nothing to do with at all. He was also married to a woman named Yukiko with a one year old son named Ryo. He had long since removed the mark that hindered her powers, but Brooke still hadn't used them often since then, though for an entirely irrelevant reason.

Hiranu had died just a little under a year ago, and Brooke was surprised he'd made it that long in such a frail state, but before he went, he got his revenge on Brooke for foiling his plans.

As his dying action, he had left a curse upon Brooke, and not just your everyday, run of the mill curse, it was serious.

"_Hiranu," Brooke yelled at the dying man, "What did you do to me!" _

_Brooke's body was glowing the vibrant yellow that didn't seem that it was stopping any time soon. Hiranu had just sent her flying back into the wall of the tiny bedroom they were both located in. It hadn't even been two seconds since Brooke picked herself up. _

_That old, wrinkled face wore a smirk of malice as he stared up at Brooke from his head._

"_A curse," he spoke weakly, "I've been saving up all my energy for months now. It's one I know is going to eat you up inside." He paused and his smile widened as Brooke's look of disgust deepened. "You have a year to decide. At the end of this year, you will die, unless you use your magic in any way, shape, size or form. However, if you do use your magic within the next 365 days, you become immortal. So you have a choice. You can die, or you can watch everyone you love die._

"_DAMN YOU!" Brooke hissed at him, "You are truly an evil bastard! You think you can scare me with this decision? Think again." _

Hiranu died right after that, leaving Brooke with one hell of a decision to make.

She was down to her last month. In thirty days, she would either die physically or spiritually.

Resting her elbows on the desk, and her head on her hand, she snapped out of her rather depressing thoughts and resumed her bored disposition.

She watched people passing by happily outside of the shop's windows, none of them sparing a glance. Most of her business came from either museum, or old rich people with weird taste in home decorating.

She only set up the shop to kill the daytime hours. Occasionally a customer would walk in and by a little something for their grandparents.

Lost in her thoughts once again, Brooke barely noticed when a rather tall man walked through the door, carrying a tiny bag in his hand.

Inwardly, Brooke smirked, but on the outside, she looked just as bored as ever.

The man had short, brown hair and grey eyes. Even through his business suit, his athletic build was evident.

"Can I help you, sir?" Brooke asked lazily as he made his way toward the front of the desk, randomly glancing at objects on the way.

"Yea," he said, suddenly turning towards the entrance to the area behind the desk. "I've got something I want to donate to the owner of this establishment."

Now swinging the little half door open, he was just two feet away from Brooke, who was a little alarmed at this point. Slowly, she began to back away.

"Sir, only staff is allowed behind he-"

She was cut off as he set the bag down on the counter and yanked her so that her body was pressed flat against his.

He smirked and peered down at her.

"Can you make just his one exception?" he asked raising an inquiring eyebrow at her.

Brooke didn't even have time to respond before the man's lips caught her own in one swift movement.

Caught off guard, it was a second before Brooke reacted by kissing him back. She slipped her arms around his neck and they stayed there like that for about a minute before breaking apart.

"No," Brooke responded shortly, "go away."

"Okay," he sighed, backing away and reaching for the bag.

"Hey!" Brooke snapped, "Leave that bag alone."

The guy quickly threw his hands in the air in surrender and kept backing up.

"Geez, no wonder you never get any customers,"

"Whatever," she breathed and reached for the bag once he was on the other side of the desk.

Reaching into it, she pulled out a tiny box not even as big as her palm.

Brooke looked up at him eagerly and he smiled in response.

Practically squealing, Brooke opened the box and saw shining up at her was a white gold 16 carat diamond ring.

"They're finally finished!" she squeaked at him.

He chucked and nodded as she pulled the ring out and turned it upside down.

Engraved on the inside of the ring band read:

_I'll love you F.A.A.D. –Chris_

"F.A.A.D.?" Brooke asked in a perplexed tone.

"Forever and a day." He responded, casually slipping the ring out of her palm and onto her ring finger.

Brooke gave h9im a quick kiss over the counter and then threw the empty bag at him.

"Get that trash out of my store." She said turning around to put the box away.

The guy, apparently named Chris, playfully scowled at the woman and snatched up the bag.

Chris Stonewell was the heir to his family's successful newspaper company in New Jersey. He and Brooke met while he was in town (NY) on a business trip and happened across her store. They had been dating for a little over a year now, just a little.

"Remind me why I'm marrying you again." He said folding the bag into a size small enough to slip into his pocket.

"Because you're never gonna do better than me." Brooke retorted with a smirk.

**Meanwhile in Chase's Citadel**

Chase Young was staring down at the pathetic excuse for a being three feet in front of him at the bottom of that ginormous staircase of his.

"Be gone Wuya," Chase spat mercilessly at the 1500 year old Heylin witch in front of him. "Never show your face here again."

"Wait Chase!" she pleaded in her raspy voice, "I can tell you something of Brooke!"

Chase suddenly froze.

"You've got some nerve saying that name in my presence!"

It had been nearly five years since he'd heard that name and all the emotions he'd sought to rid himself of came flooding back just at the sound of her name.

"I promise, let me stay and I'll tell you a very valuable piece of information."

"You are in no position to compromise," Chase said icily, "Speak at once."

Flames encircled both of them as Chase closed his sentence.

"SHE'S DYING!" Wuya exclaimed in fear, "ONE MONTH, SHE'S GOING TO DIE IN ONE MONTH!"

The flames suddenly subsided and Chase had to do his best to keep his calm. This woman had an uncanny knack for frustrating him beyond belief.

"Get out," he hissed dangerously and she immediately scrambled to her feet and exited through the giant door.

Chase was still trying to subdue his anger and process that information.

He suddenly wished he hadn't acted so rashly. He needed to know more. How? Why? Chase slammed his fist in to the ground and soon followed in Wuya's direction.

**Hmm…Let me know what you guys think. I have a serious urge to discontinue this and work on something else, especially if you don't like the way things are going. Well, please Review. Toodles!**


	2. Weak

**So this was originally gonna be the first chapter of the Sequel, but I found it hard to stuff in the necessary information, so I made a prequel to the sequel kinda...: sweatdrop:. Yea. Anyways, heres the new chapter, hope ya'll enjoy. OH and for anyone who thinks I wont kill my character, u should take a look at my other story. **

The rays of sunshine were escaping through the blinds of a wide window on the wall of a rather large bedroom. It was a relatively empty bedroom housing only a bed dressed in black linen, a black dresser, and two matching nightstands on either side of the bed. To the far left of the room was a sliding closet door. The walls of the bedroom themselves were ultra white.

The light, landing on the snoozing face of Brooke Soyan, was beginning to irritate her. Her face reflexively scrunched up when suddenly a flow of the bright radiance consumed the entirety if her face.

Letting out an annoyed groan, she rolled over away from the light, hiding her face in her pillow and clutching the blankets closer to her chest.

"Go away!" she said into her pillow. She then raised her head slightly to look at the clock resting on her nightstand. It read 8:45 "Its not even NINE!"

She heard a slight chuckle and then suddenly felt a hand place itself on her expose shoulder and she soon felt a pair of lips nuzzling her neck.

"Wake up Brooke," came his muffled words from her neck.

Brooke let a low moan escape before she was able to stifle it, but not before she felt a smirk curl into her neck.

"Get off," she said grumpily, "I wanna sleep."

"You've got to go to work," he said standing up straight.

"You mean the empty shop?" Brooke retorted, then turned to look at her fully dressed fiancé in his Armani business suit.

"Just get up," he said, picking up his briefcase from the black carpet. "Take a shower, and get to work. Those antiques don't sell themselves you know."

"Sure thing dad," Brooke said sarcastically, tossing the blankets off of her completely and getting out of the bed. She was wearing short shorts and a tank top and bed hair like you wouldn't imagine.

As she began to walk past him and towards the door that led bathroom, he grinned and walked over to the door that led to the living room, and ultimately, out of the apartment.

"I'll pick you up for lunch."

After he heard a confirmation grunt from a still sleepy Brooke beyond the bathroom door, he turned the knob and left.

Brooke was slumped against the inside o the bathroom door in her half sleep daze.

_Shower. _

She looked up at the tub/shower little more than six feet in front of her.

_Too far. _

She groaned in discontent as she got to her feet and made her way to turn the water on.

After checking the temperature, Brooke left the room to get a towel and returned to a steamy area. Both slightly annoyed and relaxed by the steam, Brooke undressed and hopped into the shower.

Heaving a deep sigh as the warmly temperatured water hit her skin, she was beginning to finally wake up.

Some fifteen minutes later Brooke suddenly got a paranoid feeling. She sensed the presence of a vaguely familiar other outside of her bathroom door.

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Brooke slid back the glass door on the shower and stepped out without turning off the water. If someone really was out there, she didn't want them to know she was onto them.

She dripped water all over the floor as she slowly grabbed the towel she'd hung on the top of the shower door and wrapped it around herself.

Slowly, she reached for the door's knob and even more slowly than that, began to twist it. With just the slightest crack in it, Brooke cautiously stuck her face through it, half expecting to see a man standing there prepared to attack her.

To her relief, no such thing lurked behind the doors; only her bedroom furniture. Brooke, sighing in relief turned back to the shower and turned off the water deciding she'd been in the shower long enough already.

Walking back outside to her bedroom, she suddenly felt a huge draft causing goosebumps to rise on every part of her expose body.

_That's weird, I didn't open the window. _

Brooke turned her head to the side and saw the translucently black drapes flowing with the wind coming through the window.

Reflexively Brooke put her hand at the top of her towel to hold it up together.

_What's going on? _

Brooke began to inch towards the window, cautiously. Time was going in slow motion and Brooke had a hard time walking through the tension she was self generating.

_Just close the window. There's no reason you should be so tense. Snap out of it Brooke! _

Right as Brooke was about to pull back the drapes to shut the window, a huge noise emitted from her side.

RRIINNGG!

"AAH!" Brooke screamed out loud and fell to her knees in pure terror. "Holy shit."

She was breathing hard and clutching on to her heart with one hand, and the window sill with the other.

Rriinngg.

The phone on her nightstand just right of her rang again.

Swallowing hard, Brooke crawled over the three feet or so to the edge of the nightstand and answered the phone.

"Hello?" she asked hoarsely.

"Brooke," came the voice from over the phone. "Hi."

"CALIPH!" Brooke yelled in relief and stood up off of her knees. "Caliph. What's up?"

Caliph was silent for a moment before responding.

"Brooke is everything alright?" You seem jumpy."

"Uh, no." she said, swallowing again, "I'm fine, I'm fine. What do you need?"

"Nothing really. That _boyfriend_ of yours called me and asked me to make sure that you had woken up." He said, spitting the word boyfriend.

"Why couldn't my _fiancé_ do it himself?" Brooke asked correcting her brother.

"I don't know and really I don't care," he said bluntly, "you know how I feel about him. I don't trust that man, there's something about him." I'd prefer Chase to-"

"Caliph!" Brooke cut him off.

"Sorry," he said insincerely. "Well, you're up and I've got to get back to work. These stiffs will all have aneurisms if I'm gone too long. Take care Brooke."

"Bye Caliph."

She hung up the phone angrily before he could even respond.

_How dare he say his name. _

Brooke's angry demeanor suddenly morphed into sadness as she thought about Chase. She turned around and suddenly crashed into an armor covered chest.

"Ow!" she yelled crashing backwards into her nightstand.

She looked up both enraged and alarmed at the person and nearly died of terror all over again as she saw towering over her (while she was in nothing but a towel) was Chase Young.

_Chase...is in my bedroom and I...am in a towel. _

Brooke was frozen still and deathly silent as Chase continued to peer down at her. At a loss of what to do or say, she stared up at the man less than a foot away from her.

His eyes ran up and down her body as though looking for something and then quickly returned to her face narrowed.

"Are you dying?" he asked tonelessly.

"What!" Brooke asked narrowing her own eyes in disbelief.

_How did he find out? _

"You came all this way just to ask me that? No 'hi', 'how are you?'?"

Brooke paused and thought about what she had just said then shook her head dismissively.

"Nevermind, where did you hear that I was dying?"

"I have my sources," is all he said.

Brooke furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Well tell your sources to mind their business. I'm...fine." she looked away from him as she spoke the final word of her sentence.

She was still in shock of his sudden appearance. Five years of no contact whatsoever and all of a sudden he just shows up with questions and expects answers? How'd he find her anyway?

"Fine?" he stated more than asked.

"Yes. Fine." she said, still unable to look him in the eye. "I'm not pale, coughing, or bleeding. Why would I be dying?"

Chase smirked.

"You are a bad liar," he remarked. "Its obvious to anyone with enough skill to see that you are cursed. You have a fatal aura surrounding your very being."

"THEN WHY DID YOU ASK!" Brooke asked while blushing furiously.

"To see whether or not you would admit it."

_Well his smug attitude is the same as ever. _

Brooke scowled and tried to walk away, but Chase stopped her by placing a hand around her waist as she was passing by.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked without sparing a glance.

Brooke looked up at his handsome features in a daze for a moment before snapping out of it and snatching his arm from around her waist. She then heaved an annoyed sigh.

"Fine! Since you seem to already know I'm cursed!" she said, "I _am_ dying. I have one more month to live courtesy of my family's former head."

Brooke carefully left out the other part of the curse, not needing any extra pressure to "just live" as Caliph would always insist.

Aside from Brooke and Caliph and a few select members of the Soyans, no one knew about Brooke's condition and she preferred to keep it that way.

"And you've no power to stop it." He stated calmly, "I never figured you to be so weak."

"Why do you care anyway?" She snapped at the insult. "It's MY problem. MINE. It's not like it'd make a difference to you anyway Mr. Eternal Youth."

Chase finally turned his head to face her.

"You'd do well to watch that tongue of yours," he commented.

"Or you'll do what?" she scoffed and folded her arms, "You wouldn't- AAAH!"

Brooke screamed aloud as Chase had tossed her clear across the room.

Grabbing onto her towel mid-air, Brooke barely had time to recover with a thrust of her hand as it made contact with the ground, and back onto her feet.

Instinctively, she almost ignited her hands with their white glow, but soon remembered the curse.

"What the hell is your problem!" she yelled at him from across the room.

His response was leaping into the air and heading foot first at Brooke's face.

Slightly caught off guard by yet another sudden attack, Brooke barely had time to get out of the way, and keep her towel on too. Even as Chase landed, both his feet came up at her face and with a painful flash, connected with it.

Stumbling backwards, Brooke caught glimpses of Chase in his current had stand position as he stood up right again.

Wiping off her face, Brooke stood up straight.

_If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he's gonna get. _

**What IS Chase's problem:scoffs: he thinks he's soOo tough. Well, psh, yea rite. Anyways, I wrote this chapter in my math analysis class, so if it's a little blotchy, its cuz the teacher kept coming over (I never do my class work :bad Sasha:) But it's the HW that counts. Anyways, please Review! **


	3. OW

**Sorry this one took so long, stupid fanfiction wasn't getting me my emails and for some reason i just refused to update til they started coming again. HEY, littleCountryDragon, where was your trackmeet? I think MY school may have been in that one. So anyways, here is ch 3 of About That Favor.**

Water droplets continued to pour off of Brooke as she took her stance. It was only then that she became painstakingly aware that she was in nothing but a bath towel. She stood up straight and held out one hand defensively and the other one clenched onto the towel.

_I gotta get dressed._

Brooke suddenly smirked to conceal her embarrassment and stared at the 1500 year old man standing in front of her. She wasn't the same since they last met. With the effect of that curse hindering her power, she had spent the free time of her last 11 months perfecting her hand to hand combat in case she ever had to defend herself without the use of her magic.

"I've developed my technique since we last met Chase," she boasted working up a plan in her head, "But at current, I'm handicapped, not for long though. Count your blessings that I've only got this one hand free."

Chase only stared at her.

She darted to the closet on her right, holding onto her towel the whole time, but was met abruptly by the same chest she had crashed into earlier. Screeching to a halt as he wound back to sock her, Brooke ducked and grabbed the attacking arm with her free hand, and in one swift movement, sent her head ramming into his elbow.

Swearing she heard something crack, Brooke stood straight up again and yanked Chase to the side and kicked him in the back hard enough for him to be sent flying across her bed 10 feet in the other direction.

Chase effortless caught himself midair and landed almost soundlessly on the floor on the other side of her bed, but it gave Brooke enough time to slide the closet door open and snatch a black tank top off of the hanger.

She then sensed a fist coming in fast and she sidestepped out of the way. Without even glancing back, she ran across the room with lightning speed and managed to slip the shirt on.

It wasn't a big shirt but it was shirt.

_Now to the dresser._

Brooke faced Chase very conscience of the fact that her lower half was underdressed.

She ran at Chase and threw a series of two handed punches at him, causing him to duck and dodge in the exact direction Brooke needed.

She backed Chase all the way to the dresser in the far right corner of the room until he finally caught one of her fists. Brooke threw her other one as bait for him to catch, and once he did that, she brought her knee up to his chin after a quick thrust off the floor.

Chase, in evasion, immediately released the girl and realized that he was backed against the dresser. As a result, he ended up moving to the side, just as Brooke had hoped. This gave her the opportunity to pull open the bottom drawer and pull out a long black, floor length skirt. (you know, the kind that you can twirl in and it looks really pretty?)

Chase was now after her again and without thinking, Brooke threw that skirt in his face.

While he was temporarily blinded, she slipped on some underwear from the drawer with unholy speed.

Chase had now removed the skirt from his head and held it out and open at arms length and stared at it in slight confusion.

Brooke wore a huge smirk as she rounded off into a front handspring landing right in front of Chase, slipping into the skirt he had held out in the process.

Immediately, and Chase's hands were still latched onto the skirt, she arched her back backwards and pulled a back walkover, making sure that each of her feet connected with the bottom of his chin back to back.

Landing on her feet in a wave of black cotton material, she snatched the towel out from under her in one liquid movement and tossed it aside as Chase slammed against her bedroom wall.

"Now," she said straightening out her skirt, "we can fight."

**Chase's P.O.V.**

"What a dense being you are," Chase commented. "But I will admit, you have come far." He added slightly rubbing his chin.

Her skills were much greater than they had been five years prior, still, she was hiding something and Chase had a sneaking suspicion of what it might be.

He had already made a mental note that she had not used her magic, which would have made her task infinitely easier, unless that brother of hers had yet to remove that mark. Chase doubted that he would leave it though.

The very next instant, Chase and Brooke engaged in a vicious cycle of kicks, throws, punches, dodging, and blocking. Chase was not working nearly as hard as Brooke appeared to be though, in fact, Chase was growing bored of the fight altogether.

She had undoubtedly become stronger, but not nearly strong enough.

As she bright her right foot up towards the side of Chase's head, he immediately caught it and sent her crashing into one of the room's walls.

While she was down, Chase took the opportunity to jump up and land directly on her stomach. He suddenly narrowed his eyes in realization as he landed on her soft flesh and immediately hopped off of it.

_So that's it._

Chase stood there, arms folded, peering down at the barely moving Soyan.

"You refuse to use your magic," Chase observed, "I wonder why that is."

She managed to roll over, and was now on all fours, coughing up blood.

The slightest pang of regret shot through his cold demeanor, but was immediately dispersed into nothingness.

"You're beating me for information about my own death?" she asked in weak irony.

"In a sense," Chase responded calmly.

Brooke scowled at him as she made her way to stand back up.

"Well then I guess I'd better tell you now before you kill me any sooner than necessary."

She wiped the blood off her mouth and looked at Chase solemnly.

"It is within my power to stop my death, but I can only do it in exchange for immortality." She said folding her arms, "As my curser put it, I can either die, or watch everyone around me die."

She stopped talking and just stared at him, waiting for a reaction of some sort.

"Well," she snapped when none came, "that's all? If you don't mind I have to get to my job." She said walking over to her shoe rack in the closet.

Chase was mentally slapping himself at the thoughts which had decide to infect his mind at the prospect of Brooke becoming immortal, sharing his very fate.

"So you've chosen death?" he asked.

"I haven't chosen anything," she responded slipping on a pair of sandals. "I've still got a month."

"Is that what you've been telling yourself all this time? That you still had time? Well your time is running out Brooke, what happens when it's gone?"

"We'll see." She said walking briskly across the bedroom, out the door, and into the immaculately clean living room. (PLEASE don't make me describe it! I HATE describing rooms. _Imagine._)

"And what of your fiancé then?" Chase asked, suddenly on her side. "Is he aware of your fate?"

Brooke suddenly froze and shot a piercing glance at Chase.

"How do you know about Chris?" she asked somberly, meriting herself a smirk from Chase.

"How is irrelevant," he simply stated, "What matters is the answer to my question."

Brooke glared at Chase before striding over to the mirror and brushing her wet hair strands out of her face.

"I still don't see how any of this concerns you in the least bit," she said to the mirror.

Once she was through, she began to scan the room for something, but exactly what, Chase could not say.

Chase simply stared at her for a second and was about to open his mouth to speak when suddenly the door clicked.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

"Oh crap," Brooke mumbled as the door was suddenly thrust open in a hurry. In came Chris, power walking across the living room and into the bedroom. Brooke was unmoving and waited for his reaction to another man standing in his apartment alone with his wife-to-be.

When none came, Brooke looked around the room to see that she was only one standing in it.

_Where did he..._

Chris suddenly came rushing back out of the bedroom holding a set of keys in either hand.

"Sorry," he said waling over to her and holding out the keys in his right hand. "I grabbed yours on accident."

Still slightly confused, Brooke absentmindedly took the keys and looked up at her fiancé who was wearing a concerned expression.

"Brooke, are you alright?" he asked, "You seem a little...out of it."

Brooke inwardly slapped herself into reality and smiled up at him.

"I'm fine," she commented, "Why is everyone so worried about me?"

"Well it couldn't possibly be the fact that you're loved." He responded sarcastically. "I mean, a shrewd like you."

"Watch it," Brooke warned, poking him with a finger.

As soon as it came in contact with his chest however, he grabbed her whole hand and pilled her into a deep, passionate kiss.

Brooke gasped at the sudden action, but made no attempt to resist. She returned the kiss, but more out of reflex than anything.

"Aren't you late for work?" she asked once they had parted.

"What are you trying to get rid of me?" he asked indignantly. "C'mon, we've got to go."

Brooke glanced back around the room as her fiancé proceeded to drag her out by her hand.

_Where'd that smug bastard go?_

Brooke dismissed any curious feelings toward the immortal.

_If he wants to talk, he can come to me..._

"Wait" Brooke said as the two of them reached the frame of the door," I have to go get my bag. Its in the bedroom. It'll take TWO seconds!"

With that, Brooke left the grip of her fiancé and trotted over to the bedroom and then the closet.

After shed slid the door open, she grabbed her bag purse thing (sorry, I'm having a hard time giving her a purse. I personally think pockets work just fine.)

She was still shaken up from her encounter was Chase and was unsure as o why he'd attacked her in the first place. It was almost as though he was...provoking her to use her magic, like he knew all along that she couldn't.

_Damn him._

Shaking her head from the distracting thoughts, Brooke's heart pulled a 180 as a pair of strong hands found their way to her hips.

Before he could get a good grip on her, she raised her hands straight up above her head and slipped out from his grip, sweep kicking the guy as she hit the ground.

"Ow!" exclaimed the male's voice and was soon greeted with a loud thud as Brooke stood back up and turned to look at...

"Chris?" Brooke gasped at the man in his business suit, laying on his back. "I'm sorry, I thought you were-"

Brooke suddenly stopped and held out a hand to help him back to him up.

"Geez," he groaned, apparently not hearing her, and took her hand, rubbing his back on the way back to his feet. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Reflex I guess," Brooke shrugged and picked her purse up, which had fallen in the whole kick-Chris-down moment. "We can go now."

She smiled and linked arms with Chris and dragged him out of the apartment putting on the fakest smile ever worn on a human face.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

_Back in Chase's citadel a few hours later._

Chase looked over at the woman standing arrogantly in front of him and was resisting the biggest of urges and not kicking her halfway across the globe.

"So you managed to inform me of one fact. You think that's license for forgiveness?" he asked.

"I don't want your forgiveness, Chase," Wuya responded, "I want your allegiance."

Chase continued to stare at her in serious contemplation of the pros and cons of having this traitor back in his midst. He knew full well she was not to be trusted in the least bit, but also knew that she was an excellent partner as far as evil went.

He looked away briefly and soon faced her again with his answer.

**I was really just looking for a way to end this chapter. The last page or so was just unnecessary drabble. Well anyways, please review and I will love you for two more days. Just random tidbits, originally, there was a "..." at the end of the title, but stinkin fanfiction edited out like they edit out my cute faces. :huffs:**


	4. Protection?

**Hey there!!! I managed to get a full chapter ready for typing in my third period today and used the time I had after school (where I know I should be working on an essay but that's what ill do later) to type it up!!! Here u are, a nice, regular length chapter in just two days!!! And thank you all for your support and understanding! enjoy the chappie!**

_Through the doors of the patio, Brooke could hear the piano playing, "Here Comes the Bride". She was smiling. Smiling brightly. She looked happy, like a bride should on her big day. All worries gone for just a few moments. _

_Suddenly, the doors the patio flung open there were rows upon rows of people all standing and looking at her. Up at the very end of the row she walked were two people. One is a very old man wearing a long black robe, hunched over and the other… _

_A strikingly handsome young man standing in front of the old one. He's not smiling, but looks speechless and captivated. His expression makes Brooke smile even more as she begins her slow journey to his location. _

_As she walked, she passed tears, smiles, and as she reached the very last row, disappointment. _

_Shrugging off the irking feeling, she reached her groom and stood directly across from him, staring deeply into his eyes. _

_As the minister begins to speak, his words are muffled by everything running through Brooke's mind. She was so happy but instinctively, she glanced back at the disappointed person and now sensed an air of misery. Suddenly the minister stopped and the disappointed and sad person stood up. _

_In the next split second, Chase is in front of her and everything around her is pitch black. It's just her in her wedding dress and Chase less than a foot in front of her, looking thoroughly pissed. _

_The next thing she knew, she felt a sharp pain in the middle of her nose and closed her eyes out of reflex. _

When she opened them again, she was staring at the swirling patterns of wood.

"Ow." She mumbled, peeling her face off of the wooden counter top of her shop.

Slightly putting, she bitterly attempted to rub the pain out of her nose, but that only made things worse.

She had fallen asleep again. Brooke glanced back at the clock hanging on the wall behind her. It read 11:45.

She had been asleep for over an hour.

She would have slapped herself if that slam on the table hadn't been enough.

_Almost lunch. Thank GOD! _

Brooke needed to wake herself up, and she hadn't had any customers all morning.

_That was a weird dream._ She thought while blinking her eyes in a dramatic fashion.

Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from behind her, in the back room of the store.

She slightly frowned as she turned her head to face the door.

"Chris?" she asked loudly as she slowly backed away from the front of the desk and to the back. "Chris is that you?"

Cautiously she made her way to the door and was about to twist the knob when it suddenly burst open and her already sore nose took another slam as the hard wood collided with it.

"OW!!" she exclaimed clasping her nose again and stumbling backwards into the desk.

Her eyes snapped shut and she barely had time to see a teenage boy running out of the back room and then out into the street carrying a handful of little trinkets.

Recuperating quickly, Brooke ignored the throbbing in the center of her face and using one hand, holstered herself up and over the desk.

She got to the front door and came to a stop by holding out both her hands as they came in contact with the door's frame. It wasn't worth it. There was hardly anything worth stealing back there anyway.

Adrenaline gone, the pain in her nose returned and Brooke took one hand off the side of the door and gently rubbed the bridge, being careful not to re-invoke the pain.

"Ow." She whined to herself.

Placing both hands back at her side, Brooke turned around to go do an inventory check when her nose collided with a hard metallic surface ands he went stumbling back again into the glass front door.

As she lost her footing and her entire weight was rested upon the door, she felt a slight pang of panic as she realized she was going to push the door open with her fall.

Closing her eyes in preparation for impact, Brooke could swear that the tug on the front of her shirt was actually her impacting with the ground. When no pain came, she popped her eyes open and saw Chase standing in front of her with an extended arm. His fist was balled around a handful of the cotton material that made up her shirt.

Balanced on the back of her heels, Brooke angrily stood back up as Chase released her.

"Stop doing that!" she snapped at him, clutching her poor nose yet again and walking around him. "Ow. Why are you here anyway?!"

She was a little bitter at the extra pain he hadn't failed to deliver to her nose.

_Walking through the front door would have been fine. _

"To warn you," he spoke without turning around. "In light of the fact that you are indeed cursed, you need to be on your guard. Whether or not you are aware of it, you have enemies. As news of your condition has reached me, it will soon reach them."

Brooke dragged her hand across the desk as she reached it, but she was hesitant to retreat back to her daily imprisonment.

_Damn._

He was right. Brooke silently wondered why that hadn't occurred to her before. Soon enough, even her family would find out. This whole ordeal was about to explode full scale. But maybe she could retain some dignity.

"You felt it necessary to warn me about that?" Brooke asked at his back some thirteen feet away, trying to sound indignant.

"Yes," he said bluntly.

Brooke scowled at the man and leaned her back against the wooden edge of the desk.

"Chase. What are you really doing here?" she asked as he turned around to face her finally. "Five years without anything and now I cant get you out of my sight."

Chase stared at her with an unfaltering gaze that almost made Brooke's knees crumble right then and there.

"Now is not the time for your personal issues-"

"_MY_ personal issues?" Brooke interrupted. "Excuse me, but I've never heard of a one-person relationship. And BESIDES, no one who has any sense would attack me out in broad daylight, so you must have come here for something other than to _warn_ me, so-"

Chase suddenly with narrowed his eyes dangerously, and Brooke recognized his expression as an attacking one.

Brooke ducked as Chase ran at her and leapt up in the air, coming down with a kick.

_Not again. _

Brooke quickly scrambled put of the way as Chase landed somewhere behind the desk.

Surprised when chase had launched at her, she was outright shocked when she heard a loud grunt come right after Chase had landed.

_Somebody had been behind me? Why hadn't I sensed it? _

Getting back on her feet and rushing to the desk, Brooke was suddenly stopped by a hand signal from Chase.

"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" he asked the man out of Brooke's sight.

A barely audible grunt was emitted from somewhere behind the desk and Brooke listened, still in disbelief.

"Ch-Ch-Chase Young?!" the voice gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was your-"

The man suddenly gagged as chase applied more pressure.

"Name," he re-demanded.

"TAKASHI!" the man squeaked, "Shisanu Takashi, of Kyoto!"

Brooke gasped in yet more shock.

"The Shisanus?" she exclaimed.

The Shisanus were another magical family (what, u didn't think Brookes was the only family that could use magic did you?) she knew had the Soyans on their hit list.

"Now, why are you here?" Chase hissed.

"I was ordered by my family head to take down the cursed Brooke Soyan, since she can't use her magic. Once she was gone, the Soyans would be easier to overthrow."

Chase looked over at Brooke smugly and in that instant, she wanted to strangle him.

"Now," Chase continued, shifting his gaze back to the man somewhere under his feet, "give me a reason I shouldn't end your pathetic existence here and now."

"Chase!" Brooke exclaimed.

**Chase's P.O.V. **

"Chase!" Brooke exclaimed. Chase turned his head to face her in recognition of her call, but still had most of his focus on this man. "Don't kill him!" he's not worth it! Please!"

Chase continued to stare at her and finally turned his attention back to the Shisanu. Slowly, he crouched beside the frigid man, foot still on his neck until Chase's mouth was right beside his ear.

"I'm going to let you live for one reason," he whispered so that only this man could hear him. "To pass this message on; Brooke Soyan is under _my_ protection, an attempt on her life would not be wise."

Chase removed his foot from the man's throat (that's where it was!) and stood straight back up.

"Go," he commanded in his normal voice and the man scrambled to his feet, disappearing with a green flash of light.

Chase looked over at Brooke and by the expression on her face, could tell she was in shock and disbelief. The expression soon morphed into one of confusion and Chase fleetingly wondered what she was thinking about.

"You were saying?" Chase asked through as smirk.

Brooke gritted her teeth in frustration and glanced up at the clock on the wall behind Chase.

Suddenly her face turned pale and she wore a mortified expression.

"It's 11:58." Brooke read aloud, then shrieked in fright as the minute hand moved. "59! Chase, thank you, but you have to go now. Chris is gonna be here any minute to take me to lunch!"

Chase disappeared from the behind the counter with a flash and seconds later found himself standing in front of his giant stone door inside of his citadel.

He'd left, but not on her command, but because the very thought of that man irritated him, and the fact that it irritated him, only irritated him further.

His eyebrow twitched as he sensed standing behind him. In no mood to deal with her pestering any longer, Chase rounded furiously on Wuya."

"Why are you still here?!" he asked loudly. "I've given you your answer!"

"I understand that," she said calmly, "I just came here to warn you."

Chase inwardly laughed at the irony.

"Have you now?" he asked as he calmed himself down. "Of what?"

Wuya grinned knowingly as she made her way around Chase and headed towards the door.

"Just don't let your guard down, Chase." She said, and with a loud rumble, she exited his home.

Chase stared after her in slight skepticism.

_She couldn't have… _

Once he had totally felt her presence leave him, the feeling of solitude sank in and thoughts of Brooke and her…fiancé involuntarily found there way to his mind.

There was something about that guy that Chase didn't fully trust, he couldn't put his finger on exactly what, but it was there.

Shaking his head, Chase stalked off to go meditate.

**Brooke's P.O.V. **

Brooke stared at the empty spot where Chase had just been and even though it had been she to send him away, she found herself missing him almost instantly.

_Stop that!_ She snipped at herself, _you've got a fiancé now. Someone who loves you and admits it!_

Brooke reassured herself but still found her mind wandering back to Chase.

That man, the Shisanu, Chase had knelt down for a moment before he let him go. What had he said to him?

Brooke snapped out of her thoughts as she heard the front door open.

_Thank God. A distraction from this._

Brooke turned to face the direction of the door, expecting to see Chris standing there, but was met with an unpleasantly familiar face.

"Hi Brooke," Wuya said leaning up against the door frame.

**Stretches. WOW. I just improved like the last 2 pages of that. I had a lot of problems with capitalization in this document for some reason. And I had to back space a lot! Anyways, please review and I'll love you forever…forever minus the ever and plus two days! **


	5. After Lunch

**Wow. Its been a while. Haha :sweatdrop: sorry. So I got a little depressed when the reviews didn't come in the usual quantities, but I didn't want to withhold any longer from those who had reviewed. At this point, I've got part of the next two chapters written out. **

**Chase's P.O.V. **

Thoroughly calmed down after his meditation, Chase was once again thinking clearly and realized that leaving Brooke unsupervised was not the wisest of decisions. It would also be unwise, however, to just pop in on her without knowing her situation.

Leaving for his thrown room, Chase left an ominous silence in his wake.

**Brooke's P.O.V. **

"What are you doing here, Wuya?" Brooke spat shifting into full guard. Why were all these people suddenly popping up again.

"I know that Chase just left," she said, "and despite what our past might be, I just wanted to let you know to be weary of Chase."

Brooke stared at her.

"You've got no credibility in my book," Brooke retorted, "Why would I trust you?"

Wuya shrugged.

"Chase gave up his soul for power and immortality," Wuya stated, "another immortal wandering around with the potential to surpass him will not sit well with him. The only thing that pegs you as weaker than him is your ability to be killed."

She paused and observed Brooke, who was wearing a skeptical face.

"Chase is among the many out to take your life. You should not trust them."

"And you, you're not among them as well?" Brooke asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, no Brooke," Wuya said, in mock shock. (lol. Assonance) "I never wanted to hurt you; it was essentially that bean's idea and even then, the true object of defeat was Chase, not you."

"So I was just a pawn?"

"Yes."

The two women stared off in silence for the longest minutes in Brooke's life.

"Is that all you wanted?" Brooke asked, "If you don't mind, I've got a date."

"That's rude," Wuya said as Brooke folded her arms. "I come all they way here from Chase's place to-"

"You were with Chase?!" Brooke asked, shock lacing her every word. "He and you are in allegiance?"

Wuya folded her own arms.

"How do you think I know that he's going to betray you?" she asked cockily.

"Like you betrayed him?" Brooke asked, still untrusting.

"Listen you little-" Wuya began but stopped herself. "It would be the smarter choice to listen to me Brooke, for your own protection."

"Wuya, your situation is hardly different from my own," Brooke said, glancing back at the clock, "your magic restricted from your use. As such, I'm more than sure that I could defeat you with minimum effort. Please don't wait for me to do that and leave."

There was a flare of fury in Wuya's eyes and she took one step forward.

As Brooke readied herself for a fight, there was a sudden flash and Chase's back appeared in front of her.

"You are far to persistent for your own good," he spoke in a dangerous tone.

"Chase?!" Wuya exclaimed.

"You constantly try me hag," he continued, "Persist and I will no longer tolerate it and I will not hesitate to destroy you. Leave and do not return."

Wuya ran out of the shop in the time it took Brooke to blink.

Long moments passed as Chase kept his back to Brooke, but had yet to leave. Neither of them said anything and tension was starting to bubble in the room.

Reality hit her once again as she heard the clock ticking loudly against the silence.

"Chase," Brooke said, "Chris is-"

"Already here," came a solemn voice from somewhere in front of Chase.

Peeking her head around Chase, she found a very ticked off looking Chris standing at the front door.

"Chris!" she said stepping around Chase, and walked briskly to meet him. "I, uh, you're late."

She wrapped her arms around his torso, only to have them pulled off. He never took his eyes off Chase, and when he took Brooke's arms off him, he walked up to him and looked him square in the eye.

"Who are you?" he asked threateningly.

"Chase Young." Chase said, his usual confident gate not faltering one bit.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking Chase up and down, eyeing his armor.

Brooke sweatdropped and slid in between the two men, facing Chris.

"Hun, Chase is just a model," Brooke said, "He's uh, trying on this fifteen hundred year old armor I found. Really." Brooke added the last point after a skeptical glare from Chris. "Now shouldnt we get going for lunch."

Shooting one last glaring eye at Chase, he turned around and walked back to the front door.

"I'll be waiting in the car," he said, "parked _right_ out _here_." He emphasized before walking out of the shop.

**Chase's P.O.V. **

As Brooke turned back around to face him, Chase was determined to keep a solidly blank face. That fiancé of hers always made him obviously agitated.

"I've to go Chase," she began, folding her arms, "but we need to talk. Can you meet me back at my apartment in an hour and a half."

"You sure you won't be with that man?" Chase asked before he could stop himself.

Chase wasn't jealous. He wasn't the jealous type. Jealousy was a foolish emotion and spawned nothing but more foolishness.

Though he could tell she tried to stop herself, Chase saw Brooke's lips curl into a smirk.

"What's this Chase," Brooke taunted, "are we jealous of a certain fiancé?"

"Do not try me woman." Chase snapped dangerously, causing Brooke's words to cease, but did nothing about that smirk.

"He wont be there," she said, turning back around and headed towards the front door. When she got to it, she paused and rested her palm against the glass in preparation to open it. "Chase."

Chase made no sound of acknowledgement, but looked in her direction.

"I'm sorry."

Before Chase could inquire as to what she meant, she was gone.

Chase stood there in silent confusion, and for the millionth time, damned himself for getting worked up over another.

**One and a half Hours later **

Brooke walked into her apartment, carrying a tiny rectangular box. When she was all the way in, she closed the door and looked to her side and saw Chase sitting calmly on her couch.

There was something strange about her presence though. Something, strange. Chase couldn't recognize immediately but…

"Punctual." She commented, interrupting Chase's thoughts and walking through the archway, into what looked like the kitchen. "Can I get you anything?" her voice came from the other room.

"Why have you called me here?" Chase demanded, ignoring her question.

Brooke walked back into the room and stopped in front of Chase.

"You shouldn't be so snippy Chase," she said folding her arms, "I didn't make you come here. You came of your own free will."

Chase remained silent as Brooke sat down on her coffee table, three feet in front of Chase.

"You were right," she sighed, "as usual. I didn't really have a chance to talk earlier because of Chris, then Wuya, the Chris again. The point is, there are going to be two million and one people after me. Without the use of my magic, there is no way I could stand against them."

She paused and heaved a huge sigh, and looked away.

"I...need...your...help." She struggled to get the words out as Chase felt his lips curl into a smirk.

"And how would helping you benefit me?" he asked as her eyes met his once more.

Brooke scowled.

"I should've known you wouldn't make this easy on me," she grimaced. "What do you want Chase? I already owe you a favor, you want another?"

Chase was silently surprised at that statement. He'd almost completely forgotten about that favor **(hehe)** He'd yet to develop a use for it and with Brooke in her current condition, he doubted he would before the month was up.

"If your intention is to die at the end of this month," Chase said, "then why is it that you need my help?"

Brooke sighed.

"My wedding ceremony is at the end of this month." She said sadly, "I want to live to get married to my fiancé. I cant leave him halfway through."

That sealed Chase's answer.

"No."

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed.

It's true that Chase had already sent the message that an attack on Brooke Soyan was an attack on him, but even so, he cannot allow her to know that he had already taken her under his protection of his own free will.

"It's a deception to both you and that man," Chase reasoned, "to live just long enough to marry him, and then perish. You can live with that choice?"

Brooke glanced up at him.

n

"I wont have to for long." She commented snidely. "Please Chase, I just want to make it to the reception. The altar."

Chase had absolutely no reason to consent to her request and knew that it would be wise to refuse it, but that damned mouth of his answered before his brain could finish thinking.

"Very well," Chase said after a long pause to both his and Brooke's surprise, "but you are now indebted to me even further. Two favors Brooke, which I fully intend to use."

Brooke furrowed her eyebrows and looked as though she was about to protest, but stopped herself as she had gotten her desired answer.

"Ok," she said in confusion, and stood up. "so now what?"

"Now," Chase said, and stood up to meet her.

Sitting down, they were about three feet away from each other, standing up they were a little over a foot.

Chase inwardly restrained himself.

**Brooke's P.O.V. **

Being under Chase again, so close to him brought back feelings she thought she was rid of. Chills went down her spine and she did her best to fight the blush creeping up her cheeks.

_Snap out of it! Chris. CHRIS! _

Brooke gazed up into his slit eyes and it was over at that point. Before she could stop herself, Brooke stood up on her toes and locked lips with Chase, dragging him and inch or two down as she stood back on the flats of her feet.

When his initial response was nothing, Brooke's heart was filled with fear and embarrassment and as she made to pull away, she felt his arm wrap around the back of her waist and the other went on the back of her head.

He began to kiss her back and Brooke felt him close the gap between their bodies.

Brooke had the palms of both her hands rested on his chest. For a prince of darkness (honestly I don't know WHERE that title comes from) he had some soft lips. She had almost forgotten.

As usual, time became fuzzy and though she was in extreme denial, she knew she had missed this in the five years they had been apart.

Suddenly Brooke heard some kind of annoying sound.

She ignored it and kept on kissing Chase until seconds later she finally processed what it was.

_Oh Crap! _

Brooke abruptly pulled away from Chase and looked at the door with widened eyes as a tall man stepped though the door.

**OMG I HAD THIS LIKE 5 DAYS AGO! It's a long story, but im gonna try to never ever ever ever ever ever take this long again. I think I suffered more than you guys. Thanks for the read and please review! **


	6. What the hell!

**Hmm, nothing to say really. LittleCountryDragon I DID see that episode of avatar and I was like ZUKO U!!!!! But I still have hope for him. He will redeem himself and lose that HIDEOUS scar. (Or at least wear his hair over it) anyways, I'm done. On with the new chapter.**

**OH just to clear somethings up, Chris' last name is STONEWELL. The first guy to attack Brooke was a SHISANU. They are in no way related as some of you might have thought. **

**Brooke's P.O.V. **

Brooke fell slightly forward as the solid mass beneath her fingertips (Chase's chest) disappeared and left behind it a bunch of nothingness.

Placing a foot out to catch herself, Brooke looked up at the door as it was pushed open and saw Caliph walk through it. He was dressed in his usual color of white, but in his not so usual attire of a business. The bit of contrast he had on was a black tie and black shoes. (All white is just tacky) He'd pulled his hair back into a long ponytail as a substitute of cutting it for the business world.

"Caliph!" Brooke breathed in sharp relief, "Caliph, why did I give you key? Shouldn't you be at work? Why are you here?"

Brooke flopped down on her couch and stared up at her brother as he rushed over to her and roughly grabbed her shoulders.

"Are you ok?" he asked peering with his white eyes (which look nothing like Neji's byakugan) into her black ones.

"I'm fine why-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Caliph socked Brooke right across her face.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Brooke exclaimed slamming her foot at his knee.

He sidestepped and walked around the coffee table.

"I heard you were attacked today," he began, cracking his knuckles.

"So you came to finish the job?!"

"I also hear that if Chase Young hadn't been there, you'd probably be dead." He continued, "That was for your stupidity."

"I would have sensed that guy if Chase wasn't there and I wouldn't have needed help," she rubbed her cheek.

"And you still would have lost," he said, "He was a Shisanu. He could use magic and you couldn't. That's somewhat of a disadvantage. That's it. You're gonna stay with me from now on. Until you come to your sense or..." he paused and his voice softened a little, "Or until the end of the month. You're going to be in the office and you're moving in with me."

"Can Chris come?" Brooke asked in mock enthusiasm.

"Last I checked I was the older brother."

"3 MINUTES!" Brooke exclaimed, "I have a life of my own. And I apologize if I'm unable to just drop it. And you've got your own too. Yukiko and Kyo (his wife and kid if u don't remember, I noe I didn't) need your attention, not me. You know you're just talking nonsense." Brooke paused a second. "And how did you hear about that Shisanu attacking me.

"News travels fast." He responded with a shrug.

"It took people eleven months just to realize that I was cursed. Why has news suddenly sped up now?"

Caliph shrugged yet again and made his way over to the couch.

"So what did Chase want?" he asked flopping down beside his sister.

Brooke shifted in her seat uncomfortably and rested against the armrest on her couch.

"He came to warn me," she said turning her head to face her brother.

"Warn you?" he repeated, "about what?"

"That someone might try to attack me now that the secret of my curse was out," she responded. "And he was right. What's worse, he was there to witness his being right." She added that last point bitterly.

Caliph nodded.

"And why was he here just before I walked though the door."

Brooke nearly swallowed her own throat.

_He knew?! _

"I could sense him walking into the building," he said interrupting her thoughts, "so there's no point in denying it."

"Well you see," Brooke began, "after Chase left the shop, Wuya came."

"Wuya?!" Caliph exclaimed.

"Yes, relax relax. Apparently, she had a warning too. Chase popped in again after that and then Chris came."

"Chris?" Caliph asked, looking like all he needed was some popcorn to be fully enjoying this story.

"Yes Chris," she confirmed. "So I had to go and I told Chase to meet me here later to talk."

"Why did you need to talk to Chase?" he asked skeptically.

Brooke hesitated.

"I asked for his protection. He agreed but now I owe him another favor."

"Favor?"

"Don't worry about it," she waved her hand.

"Wow," Caliph said after a brief silence, "you've had quite some day." He looked at his watch. "All before two."

"Ha ha, yea" Brooke slumped at the thought. She hadn't told Caliph about their fight or their kiss. He didn't know the half of it.

" Why were you so nervous when I walked in here? Is that all you and Chase did? "

"Yes?" she asked more than stated.

_Crap! _

"Yes? Why are you asking _me? _I asked you." He responded with the widest of smirks.

"Yes." Brooke repeated with more authority, though obviously avoiding eye contact. "I was nervous because I thought you were Chris. He doesn't know about any of this magic junk, you know? Plus, it'd look suspicious if the same guy he found me with in the shop was here in the apartment."

Brooke wore a huge smile.

"Wouldn't it?" Caliph said smugly, then suddenly stood up, "well if you're alright then, I have to get back to work." He brushed off his suit. "I'll be off at six, but call me whenever you need to. Take care sis."

With those as his final words, he left the apartment.

Alone and by herself, Brooke brought her hand to the necklace had given her today at lunch.

It was a diamond flower with onyx gem pedals. Both Chase and Caliph had failed to notice it.

She sighed as her mind had wondered to Chase, then back to Chris, then back to Chase again. She wanted to slap herself for kissing Chase when she was engaged to Chris. She was officially a _cheater. _

On the topic of betrayal, Brooke's mind wandered over to the message Wuya had given her.

_"Chase gave up his soul for power and immortality," Wuya stated, "another immortal wandering around with the potential to surpass him will not sit well with him. The only thing that pegs you as weaker than him is your ability to be killed." _

_She paused and observed Brooke, who was wearing a skeptical face. _

_"Chase is among the many out to take your life. You should not trust them." _

What if Wuya was telling the truth. Chase had seemed pretty upset when he got there. Maybe it was because Wuya was letting the cat out of the bag.

Brooke shrugged the thought off as she went to take a stab at cooking dinner.

**Chase's P.O.V. **

Panthers and lions scampered in fear as a flaming Chase Young went stalking angrily though his citadel.

He had...

The flames flared as he thought about it. He had been less than a hair away from resisting. He'd almost made it. She had even begun to pull away and by some unholy force, he pulled her back.

But what kept bugging Chase even more than his lack of self-control was the odd sensation she had been giving him since she'd walked into the room. There was something different about her, though at the time, he couldn't dwell on it.

It was slight, very slight. Chase shrugged the whole thing off as he went to meditate yet again.

**Brooke's P.O.V. **

Brooke laid on the bed some six hours after Chase's little interruption, silently sulking.

Chris was in the shower after having just suffered through one of Brooke's meals. She looked out through the curtained window just to her right and sighed. She was wearing a skimpy nightgown (black silk with white lace hemming) that stopped less than halfway past her thigh. Through the spaghetti strapped lingerie she was sporting, a black bra strap was showing. (I'm not just describing her wardrobe explicitly just for kicks, pay attention to the details)

That kiss had been running through her mind nonstop, and after the first two hours what was going though Chase's mind.

She kept kicking herself ten times over for losing control. She had to wash herself of her sin. Redeem herself somehow.

She looked up at the bathroom door as her mind concocted one hell of a redeemer.

Jumping out of the bed, Brooke ran out of the door to grab an extra towel from the laundry room.

When halfway through the living room, she heard a noise. Brooke froze as the frigid night air had finally caught up with her. She looked around the dark room. As her head turned back around to continue on, she felt a sharp pain in the center of her nose, followed immediately by one in her stomach.

Staggering backwards while trying to regain her footing, Brooke finally caught sight of a shirt girl with a long braid made of blue hair.

But that image was all Brooke could get before the girl disappeared with lightening speed (imagine flash stepping form bleach, or rock lee's TRUE speed). Brooke at that instant sensed an attack coming in from her side and quickly sidestepped in an attempt to get out of the way.

_She's fast! _

Brooke barely dodged as a streak of blue light blurred a searing pain across her stomach. Brooke recoiled in pain as her bare flesh was exposed. She didn't have time to look before the next attack came, but could feel the large hole in her nightgown as the air picked at her new wound.

The girl was about to come at her again with a blue light dagger and Brooke prepared for impact. She couldn't keep up with that speed as she came up in a blur, Brooke suddenly felt herself being snatched into a pair of strong arms against a cold chest plate as a flash of blue light exploded behind the man.

Brooke looked up at Chase's face as a blush crept up her own. She had suddenly became painstakingly aware of how scantily clad she was.

Releasing Brooke, Chase turned around to face the swift female attacker.

**Chase's P.O.V. **

Chase stared into the mortified eyes of Brooke's attacker and scoffed at how tiny she was. She didn't look taller than five feet. The blue streaks of light disappeared when this girl collided with Chase's force field.

"I thought it was just a rumor," she said slowly backing up, as Chase began to step toward her. "Chase Y-"

"Who are you?" Chase asked threateningly.

The girl had now backed into Brooke's coffee table and froze with a terrified look on her face.

"M-Michelle Jones," she stuttered, "descendent of Salem's Jones family. I beg your forgiveness. I thought that your protecting the Soyan was only a rumor. I would have-"

Before the girl could get another word out, Chase had in a swift second closed the five-foot gap between the two of them and rammed his foot hard into her stomach.

The girl immediately doubled over in pain.

"That blow should have left you with just enough energy to leave this place." Chase said, "Now do so before my mercy runs out."

A second later, the girl was gone with a burst of blue light.

"That was disappointing," Chase sighed. "From what I'd seen her do, she didn't appear as though she would just freeze like that."

He turned around to face a disgruntled looking Brooke, holding onto her stomach.

"You mean you were there?!" she exclaimed, "You watched as that, that woman did this to me? Why didn't you step in sooner?"

Chase looked completely nonplussed by her outburst.

"I had to assess her abilities," he replied calmly, "range them. A far easier task when done in stealth." In truth, his assessment was ended early when that girl had executed that last attack on Brooke. "And in all honesty," he continued, " I hadn't expected you to defend yourself so poorly."

Brooke scowled.

"Protector," she said pointing to Chase, "Protectee," she said pointing to herself. "That means you keep me safe. If I didn't need protecting, I wouldn't have asked you to help me. Besides, that girl was too fast. My eyes couldn't even keep up with her movement. The only hint of her location came from the use of her magic."

Chase folded his arms.

She was right.

That girl had to have been one of their most elite fighters. Her speed was immeasurable, but Chase, capable of matching and exceeding her speed, had no trouble picking up on her movement.

Chase's eyes fell upon Brooke's injury as she flinched in pain.

Heaving a sigh, Chase walked up to her and removed her hand from over her stomach.

"Hey what're you-"

Brooke fell silent as Chase's flat palm covered the center of her wound, either from pain, shock, or shock of pain, but whichever way it went, both she and her voice stopped.

"The result of your poor defense," Chase said. "I have half a mind to leave it as it is."

Chase's hand began to glow green as the injury on Brooke's stomach healed.

Brooke gasped in amazement.

"How can you-"

"I have several skills which you've yet to witness, Brooke." Chase interrupted her for the fourth time in a row (yea I noticed).

Suddenly Chase heard a soft click somewhere behind him and saw Brooke's eyes widen in horror.

"What the hell is going on here?" a vaguely familiar and unpleasant voice demanded.

Chase rounded on the man dripping from head to toe wearing nothing but a bath towel, looking thoroughly pissed off.

**UWAH! So some of u were rite when u guessed it was Caliph. I decided he needed some airtime and it would be too expected to go with Chris (and in all honesty he's boring to rite about most of the time) so this was a way quicker update than last time. Hope u enjoyed and PLEASE review! Thankya! **


	7. The HalfNaked Man's Fury

**OHAYO!!!! Ok so its not really the morning but whatever. SO! I'm FINALLY updating after over TWO WEEKS! Man its been a while, and I really have nothing to say except that I MIGHT not update before Christmas so I'm gonna say it now. HAPPY CHRISMAHANAKWANZAKA!!!! Please enjoy the chapter.**

_Oh Crap. Oh crap. Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap!_

"Uh Chris I-"

"I came out here to check on you because I thought I'd heard something," he fumed, "and I find my fiancé out here in her underwear talking about the night gown here with some other man!"

He looked Chase up and down.

"The _same_ man from the shop." He paused. "and _still_ wearing the same armor he was 'modeling'. Brooke, what the hell is going on?!"

Brooke was backed into a corner with nowhere to run or hide. She suddenly got the strange urge to run behind Chase and out of Chris' piercing gaze. But she did her best to not even look in Chase's direction. The worst possible thing she could do at this point would be to acknowledge Chase in any way.

_Maybe I should tell him the truth…_ she thought fleetingly, but brushed the thought aside.

"I-" she began nervously.

_Say something, ANYTHING. C'mon!_

"It's not what you think!" she uttered reflexively.

Chris' eyes narrowed in a look that spelled "you're gonna have to do better than that" and she felt Chase's own eyes fall upon her.

_Anything but that._

She couldn't do it anymore. Brooke suddenly snapped and her eyes flew to the side and instantly locked with Chase's.

They held their gaze for all of two seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

She felt in her own eyes and undying plea for help from this bastard who was just watching, and though no words were uttered, when Chase blinked out of the gaze, she could swear his eyes had consented.

Brooke looked back at the thoroughly pissed off Chris. He opened his mouth and was about to speak when a sudden gust of wind rushed by her, causing her to shut her eyes.

She heard a loud grunt and by the time she'd opened her eyes, she saw Chase with his fist lodged deep into Chris' gut.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase smirked in satisfaction as he retracted his fist and Brooke's fiancé fell to the floor unconscious.

Brooke gawked in disbelief.

He'd asked her to help and without giving it a second thought he'd done it. If anything, that's what bothered him the most. That and the fact that he took so much pleasure in hurting this man.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

"Why di-"

"You asked for help didn't you?" Chase blurted.

Brooke felt her cheeks burn as she realized that Chase had in fact got her message. His methods however…

"But did you have to-"

"This way you can lay him in the bed," Chase interrupted, "and let him think it was simply a dream." He shot a glance at the body right at his feet. "Good luck with that."

As Chase was about to poof out of there (a figure of speech), Brooke ran up to him and grabbed his arm to stop him.

As she laid her hand on his upper arm, butterflies flapped their damn wings inside of her stomach.

"You're just gonna leave me here after what happened?!" she asked indignantly, attempting to ignore the sensation. "What if I'm attacked again?! And on a complete side note, I CANT LIFT CHRIS!"

"I doubt that you will be attacked again." Chase responded, "and on a complete side note, you can try."

He brought the hand of his free arm over to remove her hand from his arm but froze as he made contact.

Brooke didn't know what was going on with Chase, but her spine had chills relay racing up and down.

Brooke took it upon herself to take her hand off of Chase's arm as she remembered her fiancé lying at his feet. She felt guilty for every second Chase was there, but that didn't change the fact that she couldn't lift him.

She knelt down right over the half naked man and looked up at Chase.

"Please." She pleaded, trying to squeeze some sympathy out of the man.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase looked down into her onyx eyes and a wave of pure…sympathy overwhelmed him. An emotion that hadn't been triggered in over 5 years. (deductive reasoning folks) And how she always managed to invoke it in within him…

It wasn't right, he wasn't supposed to have any emotions, unless…

Chase shrugged off the thought as he kicked Brooke away from over Chris. (gently people, gently)

For a second he did little but look at the unconscious man, but he inwardly sighed in defeat.

_A weakness. That's all she'll be, that's all she ever is; a liability._

He tried to tell himself that as he bent down and effortlessly lifted the man over his shoulder and carried him through the door leading to Brooke's bedroom, and proceeded to carelessly dump him on the bed.

Once the huge mass of meat was off of him, he turned around to face Brooke, who had followed him.

"You can't expect me to stay all night." He spoke coldly.

"Yeah but, I just, I can't be alone." She responded fidgeting with her fingers, and not looking Chase in the eyes.

And, what is--was that- is she _blushing_?

Chase eyed Brooke skeptically. Something was wrong with her. She was acting far too helpless. Even if she did feel like that, she would never show it, she's too proud.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

_A minutes ago…_

As Chase, with Chris over his shoulder, turned to face the open bedroom door, Brooke felt a cold clammy hand grip her mouth and yank her backwards and to the side, away from Chase.

"Say anything, make any sound, and your boyfriend is dead." Came a hoarse voice in a Russian accent.

Brooke didn't know whether this guy was talking about Chase or Chris, but either way, she froze into a soundless statue.

He had to weigh her odds. She could easily escape from this man's grasp, but more than likely, this guy could do magic, so she would have to make her first move after her escape, her last move.

Brooke thought frantically as her body glowed orange all over. She watched wide eyed as the glowing orange silhouette of a girl stepped out from her body and the orange glow went with her.

Brooke recognized the spell as a copying spell, a specialty of the Kurov family in Russia.

It's a spell that allows someone to make a perfect copy of the person of their choice, granted that they are touching the person they want to copy throughout the entire process.

The copy is an exact copy of the person physically, though not mentally, as they are basically just meat puppets, controlling them requires the casters full attention.

Her family sure had a lot of enemies.

Brooke kept watching as the now opaque copy of herself walked into the bedroom after Chase.

Brooke was still at a loss for what to do. She knew nothing about this guy's abilities. As far as she could tell, he was a hand-to-hand specialist.

His magic was good enough to perform a copying spell, so there's an automatic threat.

"While Young is distracted," came his thick accented voice, "we shall take our leave."

Now that she couldn't do.

Brooke opened her mouth underneath his hand as wide as she could and bit down with all the force her jaw would allot.

"GAH!" the Kurov cried in pain while Brooke took the opportunity to ram her elbow into her stomach, causing him to stagger backwards.

While he was still staggering, Brooke whipped around on one leg with the other extended outward for a kick headed straight towards the side of the guy's head.

As her foot connected with its target, the Kurov went flying across the living room and crashing into the wall, only to slide down onto her couch.

"Chase!" Brooke yelled rushing into the bedroom to see Chase kissing the copy of her. Thrown completely out of whack, she didn't sense the next attack coming in time.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

_Where we left off…_

"Where's Brooke?" Chase asked a lot more calmly than he was.

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked with narrow eyes. "I _am_ Brooke."

Everything about her physically was indeed Brooke, but there were some serious personality discrepancies. This being was acting in a way Brooke never would.

"I will not repeat myself," Chase said, "where is-"

He was cut of as Brooke suddenly flung her arms around him and crashed her lips onto his. That feeling…it was confirmed; she was not Brooke.

"Chase!" he heard what he recognized as Brooke's voice coming from somewhere behind this girl.

Chase instantly pulled away as the girl vanished in a spray of orange light.

Chase could now see Brooke in the doorway with a shocked look on her face.

He had a sudden urge to explain himself, but resisted. Chase young answered to no one.

That very next instant, Brooke's body ignited in a vibrant orange and in a fashion similar to how that imitation Brooke had, she disappeared into a million little orange sparkles.

Chase's eyes widened to the point of bursting. What had just happened? In the wake of the orange sparkles, stood a bruised man with an extended glowing orange hand.

On his face was a look of accomplishment which immediately morphed into a look of horror upon seeing Chase's face.

The man made to disappear, but Chase was in front of him the very next millisecond, giving him no time to flee.

"What did you do to her?!" he demanded ferociously, grabbing onto the man's collar and shaking violently.

The man was frozen and on top of his mortified expression was confusion.

"It's pointless to attempt to get away. Where ever you go, I will follow. Now answer my question!"

"I, she, I don't know for sure."

"WHAT?!" Chase asked as his anger flared.

"I tried to teleport her back home!" he exclaimed, "back to Russia, but I think I missed. She could be anywhere!"

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" Chase yelled, "using a spell you've yet to perfect?! Youdve done better just to kill her!"

Chase kneed the man and threw him to the floor.

"Begone!" he commanded and the man, clutching his stomach, disappeared with a burst of orange light.

Chase glanced back at the room holding Brooke's fiancé and sighed/

He knew what he had to do.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Brooke felt the distantly familiar sensation she got from teleporting, a task she hadn't done in over a year. But she hadn't done it, she knew that. That Kurov had to have.

In the time it took her to blink, she felt a sharp pain in her ass and realized she had just fallen into a wide field of grass.

It was a very nice, sunny day which let her know one thing, if it had just been night in New York and is now daytime, she was halfway across the world.

Brooke looked around as a breeze went by and remembered she was wearing a fairly tattered silken nightgown.

Some ten feet in front of her was a big stone wall encircling the entire area as far as she could tell.

"Whao!" she heard a voice from behind call, "a girl just fell from the sky." She heard a loud smack. "OW! No, I'm still awake."

"Raimundo what are you- oh." Came a female voice afterwards.

Brooke turned her head around to see a tall young man standing over her with green eyes and short brown hair. Right next to him was a short asian girl with black hair in two pony tails and bright blue eyes. They both wore the same outfit of red robes and white pants. They were familiar, so familiar.

**(I want you all to keep in mind that Yin and Yang was set FIVE years ago, so the dragons are also five years older. This is how I see it: Kimiko:17, Raimundo: 18, Omi: 16, Clay: 19)**

_Raimundo…_

Where had she heard that name before?

"Young monks, who is your friend?" asked an old, bald man walking up in blue.

It clicked.

Young monks. These were Chase's enemies. So they were…good? Brooke really didn't know and she preferred not to take any chances.

"Um sorry," she said standing up, and holding herself around her stomach, "but could you tell me where…here is?"

"What?" the one called Raimundo asked in his prominent Brazilian accent, "It's China."

"China?"

_Shit!_

"Um, are you ok?" the girl asked, eyeing the whole in Brooke's nightgown through her arms.

"China?" she repeated and with that, passed out.

**If I'm NOT mistaken, this is the first time Brooke's passed out since About That Favor, as opposed to the many times in Yin and Yang. ANYWAYS, long update I think, it was almost nine pages in word, ah well, hoped you enjoyed, please review! OH, and to all my anonymous reviewers, please don't ask me questions in your reviews, its not that I don't care, but I cant respond! It makes me feel bad.**


	8. Xiaolin Showdown

**Hiya there folksies! OooooOOOoo! Christmas was so kind this year! Im on my shiny new laptop, Oh yea baby! Ano, anyways, updates should be quicker now. So guys, how was YOUR Chrismakanakwanzaka? Whatcha get huh??? Seriously, leave the answer in your reviews…**

**Chase's P.O.V.**

The room was fairly small. It was lit only by the fireplace in front of a huge recliner (which was smack dab in the middle of the room). The walls were a deep shade of crimson and the molding was white. Save for the chair, a few paintings, and a desk in the corner, the room was empty.

Chase stood in front of the white-haired man with a look of obvious agitation on his face. It had been little over a day since Brooke's disappearance and Chase had made one of the most reluctant choices of his life.

"I still can't believe you lost her," Caliph said, snatching the band out the band holding his hair together. As Chase watched the white strands fall, he resisted the urge yank them all out.

He just stood there and watched impatiently as he slipped on his long white trench coat. He now looked exactly as he had when Chase first met him **(minus the soaking part)**.

Chase inadvertently found himself flashing back to that day, and in his mind it kept replaying over; his attack on Brooke. Chase had yet another violent urge towards this man and yet again, he found himself holding himself back.

The plan was to split up and look for Brooke. Chase wouldn't have even enlisted the help of this Soyan if that bastard of a fiancé hadn't called him…

_Chase was about to begin his search for Brooke when he heard a loud groan from behind him. Chase swore under his breath and turned around with a scowl on his face. _

_He'd entirely forgotten about Brooke's fiancé. _

Well it's really not my problem one way or another what happens to him…

_With that Chase made to leave once more but suddenly felt a strong grip around his upper arm. _

_He whipped his head to the side to see Brooke's brother latched onto him, facing Chris with an angry look on his face. _

"_Where's Brooke?" he asked without sparing Chase a glance. _

_Chase snatched his arm out of his grasp and brushed if off._

"_Gone." He replied, "now if you'll excuse me-"_

"_Chris called me over here," Caliph said, interrupting Chase, "about ten minutes ago. He said he'd heard some strange sounds and thought that he might need back up." Caliph watched as Chris contorted his face in discomfort. "Naturally I rush over here and what do I find, Chase Young here, an unconscious Chris, and my sister M.I.A."_

_Caliph finally turned his head to face Chase._

"_Where is my sister?!" he demanded in a threatening tone._

Chase scowled at the memory. Caliph had been annoyingly insistant when Chase explained the situation and took a day to make his own arrangements to come along. He'd left Chris a note in Brooke's handwriting that she had gone to a day spa and wouldn't be back until the end of the day. **(duh)** That gave the two of them said amount of time to find Brooke and bring her back.

"You said near Russia, right?" Caliph inquired walking up to Chase.

"Yes." Chase responded simply, "Start in Russia and branch out to the surrounding countries in Asia." There was a brief pause before Chase spoke again. "One thing remains unclear to me. If Brooke is to die at the end of the month regardless of what the other families do, then why are they all after her?"

Caliph looked at Chase with a solemn expression on his face.

"Whoever kills a Soyan, gains their powers." He stated. "When left to die on their own, their magic will be reborn into the next person chosen to wield it. If we lose our white magic, then the black magic is no better than the other colors and our family is left defenseless." He paused. "That's why everyone's after her. To gain the power themselves, to cripple our own power. To overthrow our clan."

With a final two second stare, the two men disappeared from the living room.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

_In one rapid feeling, her right upper arm ignited and she felt like she would explode from the pain any second. But she hadn't won yet, she still had to knock that Raimundo kid down. Well, she was already using her magic. Struggling to stay afloat in the air, Brooke extended her left arm out towards Raimundo, who, in turn, lit up similar to the way Brooke had. _

_Yet another rush of searing pain jetted into Brooke's arm, and she wavered in the air. Quickly regaining most of her control, she lifted Raimundo off the sand and into mid air. In one quick motion, she slammed him down, into the sand, crashing through the hole, and slamming into the bottom of the hour glass. _

_"You lose," she uttered softly, barely able to stay in the air. The pain in her arm, she felt, was literally killing her. She hadn't meant to be so rough with the boy, but at that moment, she literally had no control over her powers. "I win."_

Of course, how could she forget that experience; a Xiaolin Showdown.

Brooke opened her eyes and found herself staring at a dark colored ceiling and laying on a futon (that's what they sleep on riht?). She was covered by a thin blanket that fell off of her when she sat up.

"You've finally awakened, most honorable stranger." Came a voice from her side. She whipped her head in the direction of the voice and saw standing there a tall young man with an unusually round head (just imagine omi a little taller because we cant distort that cute little image nn …actually…I just cant picture he any other way…) and was wearing a red robe with black pants.

"Um, yea," Brooke said glancing around the cubicle of a room. She shook her head as she recalled the fact that she'd passed out. "How long was I out?"

"It was _most_ worrisome," he responded, "you were unconscious for the entire day and very troubled in your sleep. I am glad to see you are well."

"Thank you." Brooke said, suddenly remembering her manners,

"She's finally up," came a voice from the entrance way.

Brooke turned her head to see the Brazilian kid, that asian chick, and a rather tall and brisk blonde wearing a brown hat.

"It's about time," hat boy said in a prominent southern accent, "she was out longer than one of uncle Eddie's belches after one of grandma Suzie's old fashion barbeques."

"It was only a day Clay," the Asian girl interrupted, walking up to where Brooke lay.

"Are you alright?" she asked looking down at Brooke.

"Yea," she responded, standing up and letting the blanket fall off of her. It was only now that she realized that she was no longer in her nightgown, but instead in an outfit matching the monks. It was also now that she realized that, next to Omi, she was the shortest person in the room, though she was undoubtedly the oldest.

"Sorry if it's a little big. None of mine would fit you," the girl said, "I had to steal some of Raimundo's.

"Thanks," she repeated for the third time in the last two minutes. She looked herself up and down. She was still very awkward around these monks, though they seemed pretty friendly.

_The don't remember me, I could use that._

"Excuse my manners," Brooke bursted suddenly, "My name is Tsukiyo. Tsukiyo Suzuki (American name formmating btw). Thank you for helping me."

Brooke felt bad lying to these kids, but her name would undoubtedly be recognized, especially at a time like this.

"No prob," the Brazilian responded, "I'm Raimundo Pedrosa -call me Rai- tbis is Kimiko Tohomiko, Clay Bailey, and Omi (**Krud -lol, remember that ep?! Ok ok, I'm done)**"

"Very formal Rai," Kimiko said teasingly, "Why are you trying so hard to impress?"

"I'm not trying to impress anyone Kimiko," he snapped back.

"Friends," Omi said, "please cold up."

Everyone froze for a second.

"Cool down?" Clay suggested; and the next second Kimiko and Raimundo started arguing againa nd the other two soon joined.

Brooke blinked and quietly snuck out of the cubicle-like room.

_A day. God knows what Chris is doing right now._

Brooke paused and thought back to the attack that sent her here. The guy obviously wasn't adequate with the spell. That could have just as easily been an attack to go straight through her back; she would be dead.

The thought sent shudders through her body and she tried to snap out of it.

"Hey! Where did she go?!" she heard Raimundo shout.

"Master Fug said not to let her escape from our vision!" Omi said frantically, "Not until we know we can trust her."

Brooke's eyes widened as the words processed, then she chuckled slightly. How could she expect them to trust her right away? And what reason did they have to trust her at all? She'd just lied to them. They were in the right.

But still, all that did not change the fact that she needed to get home.

At that moment, the four monks all ran out of the doorway and nearly died of a heart attack when they saw Brooke standing there.

"Do you have a phone?" Brooke asked pretending she hadn't overheard their conversation.

They all turned their heads towards Kimiko.

"Sorry guys, _someone_ broke my charger," she glared at Clay.

"Hey, they shouldn't make them cords so flimsy!"

"Well they weren't made for lasso practice!" She snapped back, "anyways, my phone just died this morning and the new one isn't coming until tomorrow."

Brooke sighed.

"Well do you know where the nearest airport is?"

The all responded together.

"Round that there corner."

"Two miles north of here."

"'Bout thirty miles _east_."

"Navigators broken."

Brooke watched wide-eyed as they all began arguing once more in the middle of the hallway.

"Hey Kids!" she heard a voice from behind her shout, "We've got a live one. Oh, hi there."

Brooke had turned around expecting to see a man standing there but was shocked to see a lizard. Her eye twitched as she vaguely recalled the reptile.

"Dojo, there is not time to lose. Take us to the shen gong wu."

_Shen gong wu…Ive heard that before…_

"Lets go!" Raimundo yelled.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase suddenly got an annoying vibe in the back of his mind which he recognized to be the activation of a dormant shen gong wu.

Chase looked around the empty grass covered field once more and something in his instinct told him to attend to the shen gong wu.

In one reluctant move, Chase disappeared from the field and towards the location of the shen gong wu.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Brooke quickly grasped the opening to her mouth as she felt her stomach about to fall out of it. How could anyone take riding on this giant lizard, her bad, _dragon_, as he had been sure to make known. It twisted her insides in ways insides shouldn't twist. Brooke was grateful when they finally hit the sand on a beach.

They were very secretive as to why they had brought her along, but if Brooke had to guess, it was because they didn't trust her enough to be alone at the temple.

They'd mentioned the name of this shen gong wu was the _Lantern of Mass_ or something to that effect. A lantern that gives the user the ability to control gravity. :**Shakes head at crappy shen gong wu:**

_Great. Another shen gong wu hidden in the sand._

Brooke sighed and fell off Dojo as the others gracefully hopped off. They all looked back at her worriedly.

"Are you ok?" Clay asked uncertainly.

"I'm fine," Brooke said standing back up.

"Let us commence with the search!" Omi said Brooke just stood there, brushing off sand as the monks all started searching the beach in different directions. The shen gong wu wasn't her thing and she wanted no part in it.

Bored, she began to fidget with the necklace Chris had given her as her mind began to wander to what Chase was doing.

A loud fluttering suddenly plagued everyone's ears layered by an annoying cackle.

"Hey there Xiaolin Losers!" came a voice from above.

Brooke looked up and saw a tall red-headed teenage boy with heavy eyeliner under one of his eyes soaring above on propellers. Dangling in his hand was a lantern of some sort.

"The Lantern of Mass is mine!" he said, "That's right, Jack Spicer, evil boy genius has struck again!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Raimundo asserted, leaping on a gust of air towards the boy who, in turn, only smirked.

"Lantern of Mass!" he yelled and Raimundo's body suddenly slammed to the ground and a wave of sand splashed up from under him. Raimundo peeled his face up and spat out and by the mouthfuls.

The read-head, apparently named Jack, cackled again.

"Hahahaha-AAAHH!" his girlish scream pierced Brooke's ears as Kimiko had leapt up and kicked the shen gong wu out of Jack's hands. "Hey that's mine!"

"Not anymore momma's boys! Tsukiyo, get the wu!"

The lantern went flying through the air and Brooke kept fidgeting with the necklace.

"Tsukiyo!" Raimundo called and Brooke jumped.

_Oh yea…_

Brooke saw as the lantern landed in the sand two feet away from her feet. She hurriedly bent down and reached for it.

"Its mine!" The boy whined again, but everyone ignored him and Brooke grabbed the shen gong wu.

Brooke didn't even have time to stand before she saw a gloved hand cover the shen gong wu as well.

Remembering the events from 5 years ago, an action came to mind.

"I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," Brooke said confidently looking up, and when she did, her heart froze.

She saw standing there hunched over, less than three inches away, was Chase.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase's eyes widened as they fell upon Brooke's face. He hadn't recognized her, he hadn't even sensed her. He had no idea who she was until she lifted her head up. How was that possible?

"Chase Young!" Omi exclaimed, "what are you doing here?!"

Chase glanced at Omi and then back at Brooke.

"Oh no! She's challenged him! She…how did she know to challenge him?" Kimiko asked frantically.

"It does not matter!" Omi said, "she can not do battle with Chase. She will lose!"

"Yea, can we send in a substitute?" Raimundo added.

Chase could tell Brooke was listening, (**especially when a huge vain popped up on her head)**, though her eyes never left Chase.

Dojo whipped out a book and started flipping through it frantically.

"Sorry kids, it says right here, once a person calls someone out, they have to go through with it." he said, "Now if she had been challenged, that would be different."

Chase gazed solemnly into her eyes. This was definitely not what he'd anticipated.

"The game is," Chase said hushing everyone up, "a match. A martial arts battle. First one to admit defeat, loses."

Brooke seemed to have stumbled backwards as her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"What about the shen gong wu?!" Raimundo asked.

Brooke looked back.

"I've got nothing!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Catch!" Clay yelled and tossed the Lasso Boa Boa.

"I wage the Strap of Limits," Chase said.

"I wage the…the…what is it called?"

"Lasso Boa Boa," Clay responded.

"The Lasso Boa Boa!"

Brooke and Chase then sang in unison, "Lets go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

In an eruption of earthquakes and flashes of light, the beach turned into a small island on which only her and Chase stood. On a smaller island off to the side, everybody else were there in matching blue outfits.

At the end of the transformation, Chase was wearing his same basic armor, but with sharp horns sticking out of his shoulder guards and arm braces.

Brooke's own outfit turned into the outfit she was wearing during her first showdown. **(You guys remember her outfit from Yin and Yang right?)**

The lantern of mass flew out of their hands and into the sky, where it hung. Brooke and Chase stared at eachother one last time.

"Gon Yi Tempai!"

**OOOOOOOOO, alright so fanfiction stopped the emails again. In truth, this chapter has been ready for nearly a week, but I was waiting until the emails were working again so you guys would get the notice. OH, incase u didn't visit my profile, I drew Brooke (in the XS style) and while I imagine real people when I write, XS is not live action. I drew her anime style too, but that's not XS. Anywho, the link is on my profile and PLEASE review! TOODLES AND HAPPY LATE NEW YEARS!!!**


	9. One downOne to go

**If it weren't for my total inability to just stop working on a story without deleting it altogether, I would stop working on this story. I mean, ive got maybe 6 more chapters to go til the end but GOOD GOD!!!!! My schoolwork is tentimes worse than before the break. ::sighs:: that and the lack of reviews for the last chapter have pushed me into a temporary lack of inspiration. I had this chapter written out for a while so all this was was typing. I got the next one too so come chapter eleven, that's gonna take some work… anyways, please read and review. **

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Chase stood some five feet away from Brooke and was looking intimidatingly at her.

She'd challenged him to a showdown because she hadn't known it was him, and then it was too late to back out. Hopefully, when the whole thing was over, she could return home with him. She'd just have to throw the match.

"Is she angered??!" Brooke heard Omi cry, she can not possibly hope to defeat Chase Young. _I_ can not even defeat Chase Young!" Brooke saw a smirk creep its way to Chase's lips and she rolled her eyes. "She does not even know how to kick, or punch, or jump!" We are going to lose the shen gong wu!"

"Q-ball's got a point there," Raimundo said.

"As much as I hate ta admit it, we're done for," Clay asserted.

_Thanks for the vote of confidence._

"C'mon guys," Kimiko said, "we gotta have faith in Tsukiyo. She's our only shot."

"Like Chase would ever lose to some girl," Jack scoffed, but was immediately silenced by a dangerous glare from Kimiko.

Brooke looked back at Chase and had half a mind to kick his as just because of those comments and that damned smug disposition of his.

"Have you prepared yourself _Tsukiyo_?" Chase asked taking his fighting stance.

Brooke scowled, but just continued to stand there with the Lasso Boa Boa in her hand.

Chase tucked the strap of limits into his armor.

"I will not use any shen gong wu," he stated and Brooke breathed a sigh of relief. If she recalled correctly, the Strap of Limits was capable of giving its user ten times their original power. Brooke did not need that.

Since Brooke didn't know _how_ to use the shen gong wu, she responded with:

"Nor will I."

She could practically hear everyone's jaws hitting the sand.

"She _IS_ angered!" Omi shouted as Brooke and Chase stared off.

"Mad, Omi," Clay said.

"I stand corrected."

Without another second to lose, Chase threw a high kick with his left foot at Brooke's head. She ducked but was immediately hit by a sweeping kick from his other foot, knocking her back down onto the sand.

As soon as Brooke looked up, she saw a gloved fist headed straight at her face. She rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the attack. He was moving so fast, she barely had time to breath between attacks.

Brooke rolled onto her feet and crossed her arms in front of her face defensively as Chase sent yet another attack at her head. His shoe's sole collided with the region of her lower arms painfully and her defense was almost shattered.

_Is he actually trying to hurt me?!_

Chase sent a round hose kick at the side of Brooke's arms and knocked her arms out of the way. He took the brief opportunity and grabbed both her wrists and yanked her towards him.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" he hissed at her quietly, "are you _trying_ to lose?"

Brooke stared at him in confusion.

"Well-"

"Fight!" he demanded, but Brooke shook her head furiously.

"For what?!" she snapped at him.

"Favor one. Fight back with _all_ of your ability."

Brooke froze and stared at Chase disbelievingly. He _wanted_ her to fight back? Why?

"Fine," Brooke said bitterly and straightened out her bent elbows, pushing Chase backwards, and jumped to knee Chase in the chest. To avoid the blow, Chase let go of her wrists and backed up, as Brooke had hoped fore.

She landed back on the sand and finally dropped the Lasso Boa Boa, taking her own fighting stance.

She didn't know what Chase was up to, but far be it for her to stop him.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

If Brooke could disguise her aura, then that must mean to some extent, even the slightest, she could still use her magic. And if _that_ were the case then that meant that Brooke had lied to him and didn't need his protection at all.

By telling her to fight with _all_ of her abilities, Chase made her bound by her own promise to use her magic is she was really able to. If she really was lying to him, then she'd have a lot more than a showdown to lose. Chase took up his stance again as Brooke charged at him.

He shifted to the side as she threw a fist at him. In response, she threw her other fist at him and dodged that as well. Chase saw her eyes narrow and she threw another punch, and another, gradually picking up her pace with each one until Chase could barely keep up. If she got any faster, he wouldn't be able to see her arms anymore.

Chase caught her left fist, and then her right as it soon followed. He began applying pressure to her clenched fists before, in one fluid movement, she was perched up on his shoulders in front of his face, though he still had her wrists in his hands.

Chase was temporarily stunned, but didn't have time to dwell on her actions before she began to bend backwards. Chase suddenly felt himself, in one flip, hit the sand on his back as a sudden weight on his chest followed.

Chase opened his eyes to see Brooke sitting on top of his chest. She brought her left knee to his throat.

"What!" Omi exclaimed, "How di- but she-"

Chase smirked.

Impressive," he said, and in a matter of a second, instantly reversed the situation. Chase was bent over with Brooke's back underneath his left leg and his other on the sand. He'd had her arms bound behind her.

"But you have to remember in a situation similar to the one you had me in, that its useless if you're slower than your opponent." Chase could hear Omi breath a sign of relief. Brooke struggled underneath Chase while he talked. He leaned over and whispered directly into her ear. "Do you admit defeat?"

He could see her face tinted a light shade of pink as she stopped struggling.

"Not quite," she said and Chase felt a sharp blow on the back of his head and he automatically loosened up his grip on her arms and he snatched the opportunity to break free of his grip and knock him off her back.

Scrambling to her feet, Brooke brushed the sand off her stomach.

"And in a situation like that, remember that it's useless if your opponent is _really_ flexible." She smirked and took her stance again.

Chase stood back up himself and brushed the sand off his own body.

Chase could undoubtedly sense the increase in her skill, which meant in their last fight, she was holding back. **(As it was only yesterday people!)** Why? What purpose would she have in doing that? There was no longer a point in this battle. She had apparently gotten no stronger. Masking her aura was obviously not her doing.

Chase extended his hand out towards Brooke and closed his fist. Responsively, Brooke suddenly stiffened as though a giant hand had just closed around her.

"Now do you admit defeat?" Chase asked smugly as Brooke squirmed around in attempt to break free

"I know I can-"

"You can what?" Chase interrupted, "Continue to wiggle around?" he made a yanking motion with his hands towards his chest and Brooke slid through the air towards him until she was less than a foot away from him, floating an inch or two above the sand.

I strongly suggest that you admit defeat," Chase said looking Brooke dead in the eyes. "Or you could keep on trying to break free."

Brooke pursed her lips and glanced at Chase bitterly.

"You cheated," she whispered in a horse voice.

"Feel free to use your own magic," Chase suggested and Brooke fell silent.

Moments passed in silence.

"Fine." Brooke contended, "I give up, you win."

An unpleasant smile played on Chase's lips as the ground began to tremble violently and in flashes, the two small islands changed back to the single beach.

Once the normal scenery had returned and their outfits changed back, Chase maintained his hold over Brooke as the Lasso Boa Boa, the Strap of Limits, and the Lantern of Mass fell into his arms.

"Young Omi," Chase said turning to face…well…Omi, "It is a shame that we were not able to do battle today, "He smirked. "Perhaps another time."

Chase began to walk off, still telekinetically dragging Brooke with him.

"Wait Chase," Omi yelled, "I cannot allow you to leave with our new friend."

The monks suddenly all got in one unified fighting stance (you know the one).

Chase smiled widely.

"Friend?" he asked.

"That's right!" Raimundo said, "so let her go!"

"What do you need her for anyway?" Kimiko demanded.

Chase glanced at Brooke with a raised brow and unclenched his fist. Brooke fell to the sand on her butt and looked up at Chase in shock.

"What are you-"

"Take her." Chase's voice over powered Brooke's, "I've no interest in a battle. If you want her, keep her."

Before Brooke could even respond, Chase was gone.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

_Wait what?! _

Brooke was severely confused as to why Chase had just left her. What was going on?

"Tsukiyo!" she heard Kimiko's voice shout and she turned to see all the monks running over to her.

"Are you ok?" Raimundo asked.

"Yea, did that _lizard_ do anything to ya?" Clay asked.

"No," Brooke responded while standing up, "No I'm fine."

She looked to where Chase had just been standing and frowned.

"I'll say," Kimiko's voice came, "You held your own against Chase better than any of us could have, and without any powers too."

"Yea…" Omi added quietly with folded arms and a bitter face. "Where exactly did you learn your skills?"

Brooke brushed the sand of her pants and stared idly at the monks.

"I developed it myself," she answered truthfully.

Omi folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "What was it called?"

Brooke eyed the baldy. He sure was asking a lot of questions…and then it hit her. _He was jealous._

Brooke mentally sniggered and folded her arms.

"What do you mean when you called Chase a lizard?" She'd just remembered what Clay had called him.

"You are familiar with Chase Young?" Omi asked raising a suspicious brow.

Brooke snapped her head back in Omi's direction, wide-eyed.

"Uh... that's what you called him," she half-lied, "right? Chase Young? Well he didn't look like a lizard to me."

"Well his true form is a giant lizard. **(these people say dragon, but that's a LIZARD)**," Raimundo explained, "and an ugly one."

Brooke narrowed her eyes skeptically.

_True form…lizard? Why didn't I know about this?_

**OK people I'd like to take a time out and justify my reason for not changing Chase anytime sooner…I don't like it. Its not pretty and if I could get away with not mentioning it at all I would, but as its directly related to his immortality, I cant just turn my head the other way ::Grumbles angrily:: well back to the story.**

"Well what did Chase say to you?" Kimiko asked, interrupting Brooke's thoughts, "during the Showdown?"

"That you lost," omi added a little more happily than he should have.

"Uh, nothing really," Brooke lied, "just your everyday battle dialogue, you know…"

"Yes, Chase does plate out some good dialogue," Omi nodded knowingly.

Brooke smiled weakly as Dojo, who'd she forgot was even there, jumbo-sized.

"We'll get 'em next time kids," he said as the monks all hopped onto his back.

Brooke stared out to see as her mind was clouded with thought of what a mess her life really was.

"C'mon Tsukiyo!" Kimiko shouted, and with that, Brooke hopped onto Dojo's back as well and they all left for the temple.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase's mind was still working frantically trying to figure out how Brooke's aura had been disguised. He'd already realized that that's what had been different about her the day before. That had been the feeling, or lack there of, that he could identify; her aura's absence.

Who did it though?

It couldn't have been her brother or else all he would have had to do to find her was restore her aura to her and search for it then. No, there was an unknown party in the equation.

Chase sat back in his throne in the middle of his throne room(duh!) and slammed his fist into the armrest in frustration at his thoughts. Not knowing something had always been one of Chase's pet peeves. Because without knowing about it, he couldn't control it.

His mind drifted back to Brooke. He left her with the monks because her staying at the Xiaolin Temple was the virtual equivalent to her staying at Chase's own palace (if that's what you wanna call it). No body with any sense would just attack the Xiaolin Monks. And this way, her whereabouts were unknown on top of the fact that her aura was disguised. Not even her own family could find her.

The only problem was how to explain a 26 day disappearance…

**So in all honesty, ima be wrappin this story up REAL soon because I wanna start on a new story for Prince of Tennis, which I'm now obsessed with! Anyways, don't worry about the quality of this story, I had the plot laid down before I started it. Nothings gonna change. -Cuz time melts into nothing, and nothing has changed!- ::looks around:: sorry. nn'' sorry, I love that song…Well anyways, please review-o! (perfect Spanish rite?) **


	10. Three Weeks

**WOW TALK ABOUT A LONG UPDATE BREAK! I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY! but I really had to scrape to end this one. Hehe -sweatdrop- Well Anyhow, three more chapters to go, and by the end of this chapter, I hope u have enough logic to figure out what those three chapters represent. Well, on with the fic!**

**Chase's P.O.V.**

"You bastard! I can't believe you let me spend the whole damn day searching for her after you'd already found her!"

Chase maintained his calm disposition as the white haired Soyan shouted. They were standing in the middle of his citadel, right at the top of the staircase.

It had been a day and a half since he'd last seen Brook and almost two days since he'd seen Caliph.

Chase shrugged.

"It slipped my mind," he said.

Caliph looked about ready to rip Chase's head off.

"I was worried SICK about her!!!" he yelled, "and can you imagine _what_ I had to tell Chris when he hadn't received so much as a phone call from her?" Caliph fumed.

Chase narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Her fiancé…" Caliph explained, "I told him that she was in Japan on family business. She's just been too busy to call and as soon as she could she would. Do you know how _lame_ that is?!"

Chase frowned.

"It's none of my concern what you tell that man, but," Chase paused for a second, "you couldn't do _any_ better?"

Caliph, at that point, snapped.

His hands suddenly ignited in a black light and he looked at Chase with an unholy amount of hatred. Chase only looked at him, even as a jet of black light was headed straight towards his face.

Chase held up his hand and as the light came within an inch of contact with his palm, the light deflected in every direction and smashed violently into the walls of his citadel.

When Chase lowered his hand, he saw another black stream of light coming straight at his face. Too late to deflect, Chase side stepped as the attack flew past his head and into a statue behind him.

"You should really calm down," Chase stated still calmly, "As I have yet to tell you your sister's whereabouts."

Caliph, who was glaring limitlessly at Chase, suddenly turned the power switch off at the realization.

Chase smirked.

"So am I to understand that her fiancé is unaware of how long Brooke will be gone?"

"I thought it was none of your concern what I told _that man_." Caliph responded smugly.

It was Chase's turn to glare.

"I take it you don't want to know where your sister is then," Chase said, wiping the smirk off of Caliph's face.

"All I told him was that she'd be back before the wedding," Caliphs said resuming his glare.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Brooke opened her eyes and sat back up, rubbing the spot on her head that was throbbing with pain.

She was facing the clear blue sky but she was seeing white splotches.

"Ouch," Brooke shined, "that was a good, but I'm not made of plastic **(breaks into Barbie girl)** please take it easy."

"I apologize Tsukiyo," Omi said as he made to help her up, "I will _try_ to hold back, though it will not be so easy due to the amount of skills I possess."

There was an amazing level of arrogance in that head of his and if he wasn't so adorable, Brooke would have hurt him.

She and the Xiaolin Monks were sparring. Ever since her display of hand to hand combat, she could tell that Omi had just been itching to fight her. It had been only two days since her Xiaolin Showdown, but he was dropping not-so-subtle hints the _entire_ time, and today, Brooke decided to cave.

"Alright, now it's my turn!" Raimundo said stepping towards Brooke, "You're goin-"

"Tsukiyo."

Brooke turned around to see Master Fung standing behind her with Dojo on his shoulder.

"Yes Master Fung?" Brooke asked as she began towards him.

"You have a visitor," he replied and from behind him stepped Caliph. Brooke's mouth nearly fell off her face.

"Ca-"

"Tsukiyo." He said, raising an eyebrow as he folded his arms over his chest. Brooke pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes before placing her hands on her hips. "Can we talk?" he asked in a serious tone, causing Brooke's playful demeanor to disappear.

"Hey Tsukiyo, whose this here fella?" Clay asked, but Brooke waved him off as she and Caliph went off to the side. Once they were out of the others' ear shot, Caliph turned his back to Master Fung and the monks.

"What took you so long to get here?" Brooke hissed at him, "as my brother, and twin at that, you should have been able to find me like that." She snapped her fingers.

Caliph rolled his eyes.

"Brooke, have you used your magic?"

She was slightly taken aback by this question.

"Of course not," she said, "If I'd done that I would have come home myself."

Caliph nodded.

"Well your aura is being shrouded," he said, "even now. If you weren't in front of my eyes I wouldn't know you were here."

Brooke narrowed her eyes in disbelief.

"What?"

"Yea," he folded his arms again, "Chase didn't do it because he alerted _me_ to the fact and asked me if I had doe it."

This news came as a shock to Brooke, but Chase had found her two days ago, and Caliph was just arriving. When she pointed this out to him, a bitter look crossed his face.

"That bastard," he glared around at the field, "I just weaseled the information out of him this morning. How you see anything in him is beyond me."

"Caliph!" Brooke snapped.

"O, and don't call me that in front of them, "he said, "I told them my name was Koichi."

"_Koichi?_" Brooke prodded.

"It's no worse than _Tsukiyo_," he retaliated.

"Whatever," she said, grabbing his arm, "let's just go."

As she began to pull him back towards the others, she was suddenly yanked back.

"What" she hissed impatiently.

"You're staying Brooke," he spoke solemnly.

"What?" she repeated, this time in disbelief.

"Ive thought about it, and right now, here is the safest place for you," he silenced Brooke as she opened her moth to protest. "No one knows where you are and even if they find out, you're protected by the Xiaolin Monks and the four dragons. No one can hunt you as long as you're here!"

"But what about Chris?! What about my shop?" Brooke pointed out, "I have a life, Caliph, that I cant exactly drop to go hide!"

"Brooke you know you only have that shop open to kill time," he argued, "it's not what pays your bills. And Chris…as far as he knows you're in Japan on "family business". I told him you'd be back before the wedding, but that's all I told him."

"Caliph, I wanna go home!"

"And I want you to live!" he snapped, and a sudden silence drenched the area. After a long pause he spoke again. "Even if it's just for 24 more days, I want you to live Brooke!" HE sighed and pulled out his cell phone, and motioned for her to take it. "Here. You can call Chris if you want, but you've got to stay here until the end of the month."

Brooke unlocked the keypad and punched in Chris' cell phone number and looked up at Caliph as she hit the talk button.

It was ringing and before the first one could even finish, Chris picked up on the other line.

"Hello," his voice came in a dull manner from the other line.

Brooke smiled as she felt a strange sensation on hearing his voice.

"Hi Chris," she said quietly.

"Brooke?" he asked disbelievingly, but there was some sort of underlying tone in his voice, "is that you? You're really talking to me now?"

Brooke sighed as the underlying tone finally registered as anger.

"I know Chris and Im sorry, but it was an emergency!" she pleaded, "I had to go."

"And you had to wait two days to call me too?"

"There was no phone!" Brooke said, "It's, ah, very rural in this part of Japan and I had to wait til I found a pay phone."

Bad lies, bad lying skills…

"Is that so?" he asked, obviously not taking the bait.

"Y-yes." Brooke smacked herself for stuttering. "I'm really _really_ sorry about it."

He was silent for a second before speaking again.

"So when are you coming back?"

Brooke looked up at Caliph before answering.

"Three weeks," she sighed into the receiver.

"Brooke that's almost a month!" he suddenly calmed himself down.

"I know I know! Im sorry!" Brooke said, "But…after…after the wedding, this'll never happen again," she paused as the truth poked at her conscience. "I promise."

Chris was silent for some time before Brooke heard a sharp exhalation of breath.

"I guess I can't really stop you." He said, "but I think this is taking that 'you cant see the bride before the wedding' thing a little too far."

Brooke scoffed.

"Yea, whatever," she mused, "I have to g onow."

"I love you," his voice said from the other side.

"I love you too." Brooke smiled sadly.

They uttered their goodbyes and she hung up the call before throwing the phone at Caliph.

"I'm coming back in exactly 21 days!" Broke hissed, "whether you come get me or not, understood?"

"Yes Master," Caliph said as he tucked the phone back into his pocket, "21 Days."

Brooke folded her arms and pouted.

"Coming here just to get me excited. I still can't believe you and Chase exchanged words without your fists flying the way you talk about him, let alone team up with him."

"We had a common goal," he said before walking back over to where the monks and Master Fung were standing.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Her brother went to her today. He wasn't sure if Brooke would agree to staying at the temple, but if she did he had made up his mind not to interfere with any of the young monks while she was there. It would only make things more complicated.

Chase sat back in his giant chair in front of a food-covered table and suppressed a sigh. His emotions now were similar to that of when she had left five years ago.

_My emotions…_

Chase still found it hard to believe that he had any. But every time his mind drifted to Brooke, it was never calm. Hell would freeze over before he admitted it, but after just getting her back in his life, the prospect of her being gone again was…unpleasant.

Chase groaned in frustration of the entire predicament and secretly began his countdown to her return.

**Hi people, I have a bit of information. I'm going. For a week, maybe two, I dunno, but school is kicking my ass pretty bad and I HAVE to stay away from for a while. I wont be on the internet at ALL. -sighs- so for the time being, About that Favor is on hiatus. PLEASE review and be patient for the next chapter. So sorry guys. -weeps-**


	11. The Beginning of the End

Brooke let out a gasp as Chase placed a hand firmly on her waist and another in her hair.

"Chase, what are you-"

Her words were cut off by him pressing his lips against her own.

Brooke's mind hadn't clearly registered what was going on, but that didn't stop her body from reacting.

She began kissing him back as he pushed her against the wall, letting out a low groan as her back thudded against the wall, causing her lips to part slightly. Chase took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside as the kiss deepened, and began to resemble that of tonsil hockey.

Brooke gasped into the kiss as Chase's hands began to _wander_ and he broke away from her mouth and began to trail kisses up her neck until he reached her ear.

Brooke's stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies as Chase began to whisper something in her ear.

"Brooke," he breathed as Brooke shivered in anticipation.

"Mm," was all she managed to get out.

Chase was silent for a second as he blew into her ear, sending another round of shivers down her spine.

"Wake up."

Broke snapped her eyes open and found herself staring at the white ceiling of her dimly lit bedroom. She lay wide-eyed for a second, as her mind had not fully registered exactly what had happened.

…

Her mind was in utter disbelief. Her head snapped to the person lying beside her and her eyes rested on Chase's snoozing face. After a near heart attack, she did a double take and found that it was actually Chris' face she was looking at.

It took her a second to realize that she was doused in her own sweat which, as the air hit, felt cold as ice.

What on earth- she had just had a dream about Chase, who is not her fiancé, on the day of her wedding. She shook her head rapidly as though trying to cast the dream aside.

Brooke turned her head to face the nightstand where her clock rested. It read 9:28 a.m. Ordinarily, she'd groan and turn back over and wait for Chris to wake up and drag her out of bed. However, this wasn't an ordinary day and as such, she felt the need to shriek, hop out of bed, and leap into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Her ceremony started at 2 o'clock and she didn't plan on anything messing it up.

It had been three days since she got back from the temple. Three days since she bid the dragons farewell. Three days since she'd made them the false promise to come visit them soon. Caliph had come to get her as promptly as he said he would.

Those three weeks at the temple had been some of the longest in her life. During that time, away from everything, she had come to realize something. Something that scared her senseless, but that she knew in retrospect, was a really obvious thing.

Brooke just stood there as the lukewarm water hit her and rolled off of her skin. There was so much on her mind; she wished that she could, if even just for a second, stop thinking altogether.

Chase's P.O.V.

Sulking. The whole time Chase has been sulking. Of course he would kill someone sooner than he would admit it. The mindset he had been in for the last three weeks resembled almost exactly what it had been five years ago.

She had returned three days ago, true, but Chase found himself unable (or unwilling) to go see her. He'd had no reason to, and even now, as he sat on his thrown in the middle of his thrown room, his mind was unable to concoct a reason for his visiting her. His job was to protect her until she died. Today…she was going to die. His job was almost over.

He didn't know what to do with himself. He couldn't remember what he used to do. Go out and try to take Omi down on occasion, go for any new Shen Gong Wu. All that seemed like child's play now.

It was early morning and all he could wonder was what Brooke was doing. He was ashamed of his mind's occupation and yet found he could do nothing to alter it. He scoffed at himself. He was pathetic.

A noise thrust him abruptly from his thoughts as one of his cougars walked into the throne room. With little patience, Chase was ready to throw him out immediately, but it appeared that he had a message for him. Chase stared down at a piece of paper. It was from Hannibal Bean.

Both perplexed and angered, Chase read the contents of the note and every single emotion he had been fighting to subdue that day was suddenly replaced with a sense of urgency.

Without a second's hesitation, he was gone from his throne room.

Brooke's P.O.V.

She had left for the church at ten and it was now ten thirty. She stood alone in the bridal dressing room. Contemplating over the events in her life. Until now she'd never truly appreciated how…for lack of better words… unfair her everything was.

She had neither asked nor wanted the life that was thrust upon her and it had brought her almost nothing but heartache. She was going to die at sundown today, on the "happiest day of her life". She couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror and suddenly sensed a presence. She knew by now who it was.

Brooke stood there in her wedding dress, gazing through the mirror at the man with long black hair standing behind her.

She found it funny that most women on their wedding day, had there moms, or friends in the room before the ceremony. Her, she had a 1500 year old Heylin mastermind with her.

It was a very small room with only a dresser, a chair, and a mirror in it. The shape of the room was essentially square-like and was very boring.

"I'm sorry Chase. I've got too many people I care about," she said sadly, now averting her gaze from his.

"You're as stubborn as ever," Chase responded, his sight never faltering. "Very well. I have warned you and that's as far as my control over the situation reaches."

Brooke turned around so that she was now facing Chase directly and pulled down the veil which lay upon her head.

"The ceremony starts in ten minutes." She said and made her way past Chase towards the door to leave, but as she came side by side to him, he stuck out his arm and she crashed chest first into it.

"Chase, what're you-"

"Just as stubborn as ever." He interrupted her.

"Well what exactly were you expecting?" Brooke retorted, folding her arms, "It's only been three weeks, Chase. And by the way you cheated. You let the monks protect me instead of you."

"You think so?" Chase smirked.

Brooke sighed and glared up at Chase.

"Is there a reason you're here?" she asked impatiently, "my ceremony starts in like, five minutes."

"I have something to tell you."

Brooke ducked under his arm and down the hall towards the green field where hundreds (the Soyan family ain't exactly tiny) of people sat. Up at the head of the aisle, stood Chris and his best man. Brooke was peeking around the hallway.

"Listen to me you stubborn woman," Chase's voice came from her side, and suddenly he thrust her against the wall. "Your fiancé is not what you believe him to be."

Brooke's eyes widened in shock and indignation.

"Chase, what the he-"

"Chris is a traitor."

The both of them fell silent for what seemed like an eternity.

"What?" Brooke asked confoundedly with a furrowed eyebrow.

"The man you are about to marry is going to betray you- today."

"Chase why are you saying this?"

Why _was_ he saying this? It didn't make any sense. Chris couldn't be- Brooke had never imagined Chase would sink so low.

"Look I know you don't much fancy Chris, but slander-"

"You honestly think me so pathetic as to make false accusations against him for the sole purpose of preventing your union?!" Chase asked heatedly.

Brooke was taken aback and at a loss for words.

"Impertinent. This is how you repay me? With insults?" Chase continued.

"Well what exactly do you mean he's a traitor then?" Brooke inquired, ashamed of herself.

"You are aware what happens when descendents of a magic family unify in marriage…" Chase said.

"Of course," Brooke responded in a perplexed manner, "the bride's and the groom's magic become shared."

"And when one of the spouses die…"

"The other one gains all of their powers…" Brooke responded, "but how is that-"

"Your beloved Chris' plan is to marry you to gain your power, in addition to his." Chase cut through her sentence, "This is my surmise at least. All that I was told was that Wuya and your fiancé have formed an alliance and that it would be equally beneficial to both."

"Who told you this?!" Brooke shouted, utterly disbelieving the claims, "Chris isn't even from a magic family. He's probably the most ordinary person here."

Chase was aware of this and Brooke's temper and time were running short.

"Hannibal Bean."

That had completely extinguished any possibility Brooke may have been holding on to, and she slid from in between Chase and the wall.

"I have a wedding to attend to." She said shortly.

Memories of that horrid bean alone were enough to destroy whatever temper Brooke had left. That combined with the fact that Chase seemed to trust the bean's word hadn't help calm her down either.

"Brooke, listen to reason," Chase urged, grabbing her by the arm.

"Start giving me reason!" Brooke retorted, snatching her arm from his grasp. "Please just let me die in peace of mind."

"I'd rather that you didn't die at all."

Just then the "Bridal March" began to play on the orchestra and with one last pain-filled glance at Chase, Brooke began her walk down the aisle.

Chase's P.O.V.

Stubborn woman. It would be her downfall. But it was too late, she was out in the middle of all her guests now, who had risen at the beginning of the song.

Chase was at a loss for what to do. He knew all to well that, though Hannibal definitely had an ulterior motive in revealing Wuya's plan, that his word was true. Hannibal Bean was a filthy, deplorable being- but he was no liar.

Granted, Brooke had not known Hannibal Bean for as long as Chase had, but Chase was all but livid at the fact that Brooke had not trusted his word. She was going out to meet her end in a most unceremonious fashion.

He had to devise a plan and he to do it fast.

He stood with his hands behind his back at in the hallway still, watching the ceremony. As everyone seated and the minister began the standard speech, Chase only saw one option. It would definitely alienate Brooke from him, but he weighed it out. He would rather her be eternally in her scorn than to let that hag and that man get their way with Brooke.

So perhaps this was relatively short, but anything further than this would have been an abrupt ending. Again, A THOUSAND apologies. A thousand thousand thousand thousand (ten years later) thousand thousand times! …I don't deserve ur reviews…


	12. Ambiguity Part One

It had occasionally occupied Brooke's mind, exactly what went through a bride's mind as she made her way down the isle to her groom. She had surmised some things such as how dashing the groom might look in his tuxedo, how many people were staring at her, the thought of a whole new life ahead of her, perhaps even how many kids they would have.

Whatever the usual thoughts might be, Brooke was sure they didn't consist of knowing there was an evil martial arts expert glaring at your back, hundreds of people in the room with supernatural abilities mixed with perfectly normal ones, an accusation that your fiance could be in alliance with a Heylin witch, or wondering how your sprawled corpse would look in front of everybody at sundown.

As she walked down the isle, Brooke glanced over masses of ornate heads to her right, to the west, at the sun, just barely touching the horizon. It was almost sundown now, she didn't have more than an hour.

She had to will herself not to look back at the man still standing behind her in the hallway, and she found it an especially bad omen that she had to keep reminding herself exactly who her fiance was. Chris was sweet, kind, considerate, gentle -everything Chase was not. Chris had never laid a hand on her. Chris had never talked ill about her. Chris loved her.

She felt a sudden stab of guilt for doing this to him. She was about to promise him a lifetime together, knowing full well that she wasn't going to even make it to the reception. If for no other reason than that, Brooke was beginning to have second thoughts about this marriage.

She looked up at Chris, directly into his eyes. The sun was hitting him in a way that amplified how beautiful he really was, as he smiled at her. Brooke looked down in shame, and suddenly made her resolution. She couldn't marry Chris knowing she was going to die right afterwards. It wasn't fair to him. That was the only reason.

That's what she told herself at least.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase stared after Brooke idly for a second or two before walking back into the bridal room. He summoned his pet Raven and it appeared, perching on the mirror Brooke had been staring into minutes before.

"Locate Wuya," he told it, "be discreet, and report back to me when you've found her."

The bird was gone as quickly as it had come and Chase went back into the hallway. He stared out the exit down the isle at Brooke's back, frowning. All he could do at this point was wait and watch the ceremony. Chase folded his arms angrily. Angry at himself for the feeling of jealousy that he couldn't beat down as he watched Brooke, clad in her white bridal dress, walk slowly towards that fiend by the priest.

Every step she took closer filled Chase with the desire to grab her and pull her back. Every second he spent staring at Chris made him want to grab him and shove a spike through his stomach.

Chase stared at the whole scene …sorrowfully as he contemplated. If Chris had indeed be perfectly normal and truly in love with Brooke, would the feelings he was having now really be all that different?

Brooke was a nuisance to Chase- a weakness. A serious chink in his armor. He hated himself for it. And as much power as he had at his disposal, Chase had no power to will it otherwise. Chase searched himself and realized he didn't even have the desire to will it otherwise.

He couldn't feel ashamed anymore. He was Chase Young. Renown as the evil among evil. Doubting himself was not an option. He would not allow himself to feel pathetic or angry with himself for what he was feeling for Brooke. He had to come to terms with it or he would be his own downfall sooner than she would be.

Chase had to admit it to himself, _despite_ himself. He had to admit that somewhere down the line, his simply caring for Brooke had ceased. That it had turned to something more. That he was in love with Brooke.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

As Brooke reached the priest and Chris, she couldn't help but glance at the sun again. It was the countdown to her impeding doom.

The pianist stopped playing and all was silent as the priest opened his book and began to read.

"Dearly beloved, we are all gathered here today, to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Should anyone here object, speak now, or forever hold their peace."

This was her only opportunity.

"I object."

Brooke's eyes widened in surprise and turned her head to look at the speakers of these words. She saw standing, in the front row, Caliph and in the back, Chase.

The crowds heads kept switching back from Chase to Caliph and back as they stared at one another and Brooke stood frozen.

"Caliph… Chase?" Brooke inquired. She dared not look at Chris' face, afraid of what expression there might be.

"I cant let you to do this, sis," Caliph said, a resolved look upon his face.

"Nor can I," Chase added.

Every Soyan looked fearfully at Chase while all of Chris' family looked simply confused.

"You have no say in the matter," Brooke told them pointedly, though secretly thankful that she wasn't the one who had to say it first. She turned to Chris and saw the perplexed look on his face as his eyes looked down to meet hers.

"Chris," she began, a little fearfully. She had rejected more than a few guys in her life before, but she'd never backed out of a wedding before, and it was a bit different. "I… can't marry you."

The crowd let out a resounding gasp as it began to become unsettled and Chris' face changed from perplexity to wariness.

"Brooke…" he began, hurt laced in his voice.

Brooke had to avert her gaze.

"There's a lot I haven't told you, Chris." she began. "There's a lot you don't know about the family you were preparing to marry into. Don't think I'm psychotic, but we're a magical family. We have powers, almost every single one of us, and Caliph is the head of the family. The previous leader of our clan, before he killed, cursed me so that now, I die at sundown today. I can't let you marry me knowing what my fate is."

Brooke chanced a look at him and his face was disbelieving.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but-"

"I still love you," he said, taking Brooke's hands in his own, "And whether I spend 50 years with you or 50 seconds, I want to be with you."

Brooke's eyes widened infinitesimally as she hurriedly snatched her hands away and backed away down the isle. She eyed Chris cautiously as she kept backing up. That was a bit hasty, she thought, how could he have so quickly and easily accepted that she was a magical being.

"What sort of reaction is that?" she asked suspiciously, grabbing her dress so that she didn't trip over it.

Chris looked confused as Brooke came to a halt halfway down the isle, ignoring the burning stares of Chris' family and her own.

"I don't understand-"

"How could you so readily accept what I was telling you?" Brooke inquired, "It's a bit outlandish for me to claim to have powers, wouldn't you agree?"

"I trust you-"

"Wouldn't you at least want some proof?"

The entire congregation was deathly silent.

Chase's claim was starting to become a lot more credible in Brooke's eyes as Chris' silence remained.

"Brooke," he sighed, "you really had to go and mess up a wonderful thing didn't you?"

Chris' hands began glow a shocking blue as he reached up and undid his tie and loosened collar. Brooke's eyes widened noticeably this time as the entire left half of the crowd stood and began glowing various colors from every hue in the spectrum.

She instinctively backed towards her own family as they mirrored the former's actions.

"Chris?" Brooke whispered.

"You never did give me enough credit," he said, taking off his jacket so that he was only in his dress shirt, suspenders, and an undone tie. "Months of living with you and you honestly think I would remain oblivious through the entire time. Honestly I thought my name would be a red flag for you. The Stonewell's of New Jersey-"

"All died out over two hundred years ago." Caliph's voice suddenly came.

"Almost," Chris nodded, "Almost. There was one survivor, and it took a couple centuries, but our Clan has been somewhat restored." He lazily gestured towards his family with his right hand. "We're still only half the strength we once were though.

"So imagine our joy when we discovered that the Soyans had a weak link. Naturally we leapt at the opportunity, deciding ultimately that it was easier to attract flies with honey instead of vinegar. That and our family didn't stand a chance against yours in an all out war. It would be easier to marry into Soyan power than try to kill you for it.

"Being the closest to age for Brooke, I was chosen to be her suitor." Chris glanced at Brooke, who stood rooted and speechless in her spot, trying desperately to process everything that was happening.

"So what's changed about that now?" Caliph inquired, looking around at the masses of formally clad attendees.

"We've recently allied to someone of great power," Chris said, "in case something like this happened. But we came so close to pulling this off smoothly. You would have died in peace at sundown- in twenty minutes- and we would have began our assent to the top."

Brooke's heart skipped a beat at the mention of sundown. In light of recent events, she had completely forgotten about it. She looked at the sun and saw it was indeed almost sundown.

How had all this happened?! Brooke's mind was going into shut down mode and as Chris took a step down from the altar and began toward her, she felt her body beginning to do the same thing.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase's body acted more immediately than his mind had as he saw the Stonewell begin his tread towards Brooke.

In an instant he was in front of her, defensively.

Chris stopped dead in his tracks, an amused look on his face.

"Ah, Chase Young." he said, "Yes, I have to admit it was a bit of a surprise when she dragged you into the equation. And intimidated. That was before we met our ally."

Chase glared fiercely into Chris' eyes, prepared to attack this man at any moment. Before he had an opportunity, however, one of the Soyans leapt across the isle towards one of the Stonewells and a huge brawl erupted as magic began to fly everywhere.

In the mayhem, it seemed to be only Brooke, Chris, and Chase who were remaining still.

"A model?" Chris scoffed, "I knew exactly who you were the moment I laid eyes on you." He paused, "I also know that I have no chance of defeating you whatsoever."

Chris dodged a streak of purple light as it went flying by.

"Oh such chaos is unbecoming, wouldn't you agree?" Chris inquired, tossing a stray streak of that shocking blue light towards the purple lighted fighter.

"If you realize you can't defeat me, your battle is as good as over." Chase explained.

Chris smirked.

"Not quite, Chasey, my boy."

"SPHERE OF YUN."

Before Chase could register what had happened, he found himself encased in a solid transparent mass with a gold lining around middle.

Chase turned his head towards his capturer with widened eyes and saw standing atop the building behind them, was Wuya.

**OK!! So this wasn't QUITE the last chapter as I had expected. I didn't mean to drag this out, it simply turned out this way. Sorry for the long wait, again, I wont dare make any promises about when the next one will be, seeing as I never seem to be able to follow through anymore.**


	13. Ambiguity Part Two

**The end of the end. **

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase's eyes flashed in anger as they fell upon the witch smirking down at the chaos, bearing a miniature replica of the Sphere of Yun in one hand, and a mangled crow in the other. Her lips moved and Chase registered that she was speaking, but through the chaos of battle he could hear nothing.

She dropped the bird on the roof and in an instant she was gone, before she reappeared right before Chris.

"Ah," she said, savoring the air as she inhaled, "If feels good to be in full power again- no- I was never quite this strong."

She raised her fist over her head and brought it down in a lightning quick motion, and in response, the entire right half of the area shook with horrible violence as everyone in the vicinity fell to their knees- including Brooke.

Wuya's eyes connected with Chase's as she looked condescendingly upon him.

"How long I've waited for this day," Wuya said menacingly.

"You would sink so low as to ally yourself to a useless old hag such as this?" Chase said, as calmly as ever, from his entrapment.

"Useless?" Chris inquired, "As promised, she made sure that, should the need ever arise, you would be incapacitated to aid Brooke as I killed her. Unfortunately, the need did arise, and you are, quite incapacitated.

Almost involuntarily, Chase glanced back towards Brooke, still on her knees, not even looking up at the scene. Was she really so surprised? Chase continued to peer down as onyx tresses draped over her eyes. Though he hated the man before him with all the loathing he could conjure, he couldn't help but find himself wishing that he had truly been in love with Brooke- if only to spare her the pain she was feeling now.

He suddenly turned back to Chris, filled with resolve to destroy him. In his current predicament, however, this was going to prove a bit difficult.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Brooke was staring at the grass she was clutching beneath her fingers.

_Wha… what was going on? _

In all of five minutes her entire world seemed to crash and burn. Chase had been right, Caliph's intuition had been right, everyone in the world seemed to have seen what Chris was except for her.

She felt like a fool.

She glanced upward at the solid bubble Chase had just been closed in. She had no idea what it did, but a gut feeling that it was some sort of shen gong wu. Couldn't chase escape? If he could why didn't he already?

Then the horrible thought struck her.

What if he couldn't? What if Chase and all his abilities were stuck in there. While she was on all fours in her wedding dress, the despicable thing, in the midst of a dangerous battle, unarmed.

And when had Wuya gained all that power?

She could hardly wrap her mind around all that was going on. Everything was going all wrong- and it was all her fault. She felt like the scum of the earth. Weak, in the way, and causing nothing but trouble.

She felt humiliated for believing that Chris loved her, and angry at herself for making herself come to care for him as well.

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her scalp as her head was violently tugged upward by her hair.

"Unhand her," she heard Chase call in a dangerous tone.

As Brooke's head was forced up she found herself staring into the face of her fiance, who was wearing a menacing look.

"I'm sorry Brooke," he began, ignoring Chase's command and tightening his hold on her hair. The pain was searing as she had to force the tears that threatened to fall down. "I really didn't want to kill you, but seeing as the wedding is off, I have no other choice."

With his free hand, he wound back and delivered a powerful blow to the side of her face, causing her to fall over altogether, landing on her stomach against the moist grass with a soft thud and a loud grunt.

"Oh Christopher," came Wuya's voice from some direction Brooke couldn't determine, "No need to mangle her corpse. The least you could do for your beloved is to let her die unmarred."

Brooke was barely registering their conversation, though, as she was lost almost completely in thought. When had she become so weak? When did she, known for all her smug back-talk, suddenly lose the ability to back it up? When had she become so utterly helpless? Why was she allowing this traitor to so easily beat her.

"Get up, Brooke."

Brooke's eyes snapped open and she looked towards the source of the command.

Chris forcefully shoved a foot in her side causing her eyes to instantaneously close again from pain.

"Get up Brooke!" Chase ordered with more urgency.

"Can't you see, Chasey?" Chris said, twisting his foot in Brooke's side, causing her to release a pained whimper. "Brooke here is a lot weaker than she let any of us believe. She finds out I'm a traitor and instead of becoming enraged she gets depressed."

"Will you really allow yourself to be defeated so easily?" Chase continued.

Would she?

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase's bloodlust was at an all time high as he watched Chris attack Brooke relentlessly. Never had his urge to rip an appendage from a man been so great.

Brooke seemed to be unresponsive to what he was saying and she laid there for the longest, unmoving as Chris continued his bludgeoning.

"For too long I have been repressed by you, Chase," Wuya's voice came from behind him, "This revenge is long overdue."

"You take joy in attacking a defenseless being?" Chase spat angrily.

Wuya chuckled.

"You and I both know that is not the reason I'm taking joy in her pain," she said smugly.

If looks could kill, Wuya would be six feet under with the way Chase was staring at her.

"Ah cheer up, Chase," Wuya consoled mockingly, leaning up against the Sphere of Yun, "She was scheduled to die today anyway, right? In just ten minutes. You were going to lose her any way it went."

She smiled brightly.

"Well time is running short, Brooke," Chris said, looking towards the soon-to-set sun. "And I need your powers before they are trapped within your family for another generation." His hands began to glow even brighter than before as he pointed his hand directly at her head.

Chase's heart started skipping beats until it stopped beating altogether at the realization of what Chris was about to do. Instinctively he reached out to her but his hands pressed flat against the glass of the Sphere of Yun. He inwardly curse that hag for imprisoning him in here -this was the second time he'd been in this damned contraption.

"Bye hon," Chris said, and shot a streak of shocking blue light straight towards Brooke's head.

Chase watched it, bracing himself for the impact, nerves on end, and felt a relief like he'd never experienced it before when Brooke evasively rolled out of the way just in time to avoid Chris' fatal attack.

Chris, caught off guard by the turn of events, could only block as Brooke sent her foot flying towards his face. Even through his defense, Chris stumbled a few feet backwards as Brooke hurriedly got to her feet.

She looked a mess, with blood trickling down her mouth, bangs hanging over her eyes, clutching her pained side- in a wedding dress. She wiped the blood from her chin and ran her fingers through her hair to pull it back.

"Sorry Chase," she said, feebly trying to smile, "looks like you were right." She then turned to Chris, who had regained his calm countenance. "And I'm not going to be the pawn you use that leads to my family's demise. You think I'm all talk? Bring your ass over here and let's find out." Brooke smirked as she took her stance. "I'm running a little short on time though, so we're gonna hafta make this quick."

Brooke quickly leapt at Chris and the two engaged in a heated battle, and though it was obvious the Brooke's martial arts was far superior to Chris'. Even the fact that he had magic on his side didn't seem to be any real threat to her.

Chase watched a little astonished at how Brooke was performing in the battle. Either adrenaline had increased her skill, or Chris was simply incompetent. Either way, he was soon overpowered, and Chase found himself a little to satisfied with that.

Wuya sighed and left her position near Chase and intervened just as Brooke was about to deliver the final blow to Chris.

Chris was on the floor, behind Wuya as she caught the foot Brooke was just about to slam in his face.

"Honestly," Wuya sighed, hurdling Brooke across the field by the leg, "to think you'd be so incompetent you couldn't even take down a girl."

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Brooke was momentarily caught off guard as she flew over the battling crowd and multi-colored attacks. She caught herself in a little deserted corner of lawn and was about to head back over to Wuya when she felt a foreboding presence behind her. Brooke fearfully looked behind her to see Wuya there, ready to strike.

And she did.

Brooke was sent hurdling back to where she just came from in the middle of the isle, among the fighting crowd. Brooke was barely able to catch herself as she collided against the giant orb Chase was trapped in. She looked up in time to see Wuya landing just feet away from her.

Had she always been so strong?! Brooke wondered awestruck. Her strength and speed seemed to rival Chase's. Brooke looked back at Chase, caught in the giant ball. She was wondering how she could free him when her eyes found his, and even in the heat of battle, she blushed and looked away at the intensity of their gaze.

"H-how can I get you out of here?" Brooke asked the grass, when she suddenly sensed another attack coming on, and acrobatically hopped on top of the sphere to dodge it.

"You have to get the shen gong wu she has in her hand," Chase responded in his usual calmness as Wuya's fist collided with the sphere. "And call out its name - The Sphere of Yun."

"Chris," Wuya snapped to the man doubled over on the ground, "Your time is running short. The sun will set in five minutes, if you do not claim her powers I will."

"Brooke," Chase said quietly, so that, from atop the sphere, only she could hear him. "I'm going to use my last favor now."

Brooke furrowed her eyebrows and Wuya began to bicker with Chris as she hopped off the sphere and looked at Chase.

_At a time like this??_

"What is it?" Brooke asked.

The look Chase was giving her almost made her knees buckle as she leaned against he sphere for support.

"I need you to fight back," he said, looking her dead in the eye.

Brooke scowled.

"What are you talking about?" she snapped, "I am fighting. I'm already fighting because of yo-"

"No," Chase said, cutting over her. "Fight to the _fullest_ of your abilities."

Brooke looked at Chase blankly for a while.

"You mean you want me to…"

"Use your magic."

Brooke froze and tried to wrap her head around the request Chase had just made. He wanted to use his last favor to make her use her magic…now? So close to the end?

"Chase, I-"

"Brooke," he said, cutting over her again, "You gave your word, are you going to go back on it now?"

"You're asking an impossible thing."

"It's quite possible," he retorted, "you're simply being stubborn."

"Stubborn?!" Brooke hissed angrily.

"What repulses you so much about the thought of immortality?" Chase inquired, "It's not the worst of fates-"

"That's debatable," Brooke said, "I'm not evil, Chase, I have people I love that I don't wanna see hurt. I did not willingly opt to be forever young. I don't want to conquer the world. I don't need an endless amount of time. I've never feared death- I don't fear it now. Why should-"

"Fear of death is not the only factor," Chase muttered, clearly frustrated. "Nor is being evil. Have you thought of all the… good… you could accomplish with 'an endless amount of time'?" He'd choked over the word "good" as it came out. "And all this aside, you would really die with your last act being that of breaking a promise?"

Brooke looked from Chase, to the setting sun, then to where Wuya and Chris were, still disputing. She tried to find her brother in the crowd of chaos, but was unsuccessful. Perhaps he was taking his family to safety before he came back.

Two minutes.

Maybe less.

Brooke had to think quickly. Chase had a valid point. Just as he had chosen immortality to commit unthinkable evils, she could use hers to accomplish a mountain of goods. But still, she would eventually have to watch everyone around her age, while she stayed young, and die, while she remained alive.

Was it really worth it.

She thought about Chase. Would he still be in her life once this whole mess was over, if she chose immortality? Would they become bitter rivals?

Her heart almost broke at the very thought.

One thing was quite clear, however, she did make Chase a promise. She gave him her word. Whatever he asked, she was obligated to fulfill. And though what he was asking for was unreasonable…

Brooke turned away from Chase and looked at the sky as all traces of light began to fade from it.

Her time was up.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

Chase wasn't sure if anything he had just said had gotten through that thick skull of hers. He knew he'd made an unfair use of his last favor, but he really couldn't care less. He wanted Brooke to live. He was going to disregard her opinions at the moment and act only for himself. He needed her to live.

Chase looked at the sun as it began to sink even lower past the horizon, the top of it barely visible now. She didn't have long.

Chase turned back to the battle scene, which was even more illuminated now with the constant loss of sunlight.

"Brooke," Chase called, but was met with silence. He wished more than ever he had the Mind Reader Conch on hand. He needed to know if she was thinking about using her powers, or if she had simply given up altogether.

Chase closed his eyes and sat down in his meditative position.

If she was going to die, he was certainly not going to bear witness to it. Chase tried to drown out all of the noise and battle cries to find his inner arena of nothingness. To try and be away from where he was right now.

There were but seconds left to Brooke's demise.

Just as Chase was about to find his center, he heard a high pitched shriek.

"NOOO!!!" The wailing voice called.

"SPHERE OF YUN!"

Chase suddenly felt the mass around him disappear as he quickly opened his eyes (and landed on his feet) to see Brooke, standing at the altar, body ignited in a white bask of light, carrying the Sphere of Yun.

Everyone in the area stilled as her glow illuminated the dark scene. Her eyes were closed and in a burst of white flames, the Sphere of Yun combusted into tiny debris.

There weren't quite words to describe how Brooke looked then. The closest Chase could find, was radiant. She looked like something celestial. When her eyes flew open, however, she looked like a fate worse than Hell.

"Caliph," she spoke, and in an instant and a burst of black light, her brother was by her side, glowing all over in his own hue.

"Shit," Chris said, "MOVE OUT!"

Immediately, there were dozens explosions of multi-colored lights as every Stonewell fled the area, and Wuya with them.

"Well that was hardly a fight," Caliph scoffed, folding his arms and de-illuminating himself. Then suddenly his eyes widened as he looked behind him and saw, standing deathly still amongst the ruins of the altar, was the priest they had hired for the ceremony. "Sorry about this, Father. We'll be sure to clean the place up."

He made no response, but simply fainted at the end of Caliph's sentence.

Chairs were tossed over, destroyed, incinerated, crumpled and everybody looked a mess.

"Alright!" Caliph's voice boomed, clapping his hands, "let's clean this place up and go home!"

The clean up took all of five seconds and the departures took even less. (the perks of being magical). The only ones left were Caliph, Chase, and Brooke, and the unconscious priest.

Chase stared up at Brooke, who had finally stopped glowing now. It was now completely nightfall. And Brooke was still alive. Caliph said something to Brooke that Chase couldn't catch from his distance, but in the next instant, was gone like the rest of his family.

"Chase," Brooke called out to him, from all the way down the isle.

"Yes?"

"How did you feel at first?" She inquired.

She was referencing to the immortality.

"The same as always." Chase replied. "You wont feel any significant change until later- much later."

She walked towards him slowly- ever so slowly, and finally stopped about a foot's distance in front of him.

"So my debt is repaid," she began, "Your task is fulfilled. We can part our separate ways now. I go back to my antique shop- you go back to your evil-doing; the world will be at peace again."

"It's not really the world's peace I'm concerned about," Chase spoke before he could stop himself.

Brooke looked up at him, with tear-filled eyes and threw her arms around him burying her head in his armored chest. He, with some effort, resisted the urge to reciprocate the action and instead pulled her away from him by her hands and, holding onto them as he looked down at her.

"I'm sorry, Brooke." Chase said, gazing intently at the girl.

It had been he, after all, who told her to use her magic knowing that she was fully prepared to live. He, in his selfish desire to have her remain accessible to him, commanded that she use her magic. And that she would now be able to live as long as he…

He didn't like the confliction Brooke had never failed to deliver to him. He couldn't stand it. Simply admitting to himself that he did love her didn't seem to take away the pathetic feeling he had whenever he listened to himself think about her.

He'd destroyed major cities, wreaked havoc among villages, betrayed his best friends, and never felt as guilty about it as he was feeling now about forcing her to act against her will. He'd done that one too, thousands of times before.

Taking both her hands into one of his, he wiped her tears away with his freed gloved appendage.

"A warrior never shows weakness," Chase chided.

"I guess I'm just not cut out for this warrior business huh?" Brooke chuckled sadly. "I seem to show nothing but weakness." She tried to break out of Chase's grasp to wipe her own tears away but Chase held her firmly in place, as his hand rested on her cheek.

Brooke looked up through tear-speckled eyes in confusion.

**Brooke's P.O.V.**

Her cheeks flushed crimson as she felt humiliated for letting herself cry in front of Chase, much less seek comfort in him.

She tried to pull her hands from his grasp and take his hand off her face but was met with resistance.

She looked up bewilderedly and saw Chase staring at her and she suddenly become painstakingly aware of how alone they were.

"Chase-"

Her words were cut off by his lips capturing her own, gently but firmly. She'd stiffened initially, but soon relaxed into the kiss and began kissing him back. The hand that wasn't on her face found its way to her waist and pressed her flush against his own body.

Millions of thoughts and emotions were flying around within Brooke, and she couldn't bring herself to focus on just one.

She realized she didn't have to. She had an eternity to think now. She had an eternity to feel. An eternity to live.

And, she wondered fleetingly, an eternity with Chase?

She couldn't just go off with him, though, and leave all her family behind. She was half of her family's ultimate strength. She couldn't abandon them. Her knees, which had been threatening to cave for a while now, finally followed through and she found herself being supported completely by Chase.

Chase lifted his head away, ending the kiss, and stared at Brooke solemnly, before standing her back up on her own. Brooke felt a deep sense of loss at the sudden lack of contact and stared at Chase, waiting for an explanation.

This wasn't the first time they had shared a kiss, no, but the sensation never seemed to dull in the least. And every time she found herself a little confused. Chase had never openly admitted to having feelings for her - but she figured it would be a cold day in hell before Chase ever talked about his feelings.

"Why did you come back?" Brooke suddenly inquired, folding her arms, "A month ago, when you appeared in my bedroom, you never told me."

Chase looked at her contemplatively, deciding on what answer he should give.

"I'd heard you were dying," he finally said, "And wanted to verify if the story was true."

"And what had you planned on doing once you had?" Brooke said coolly.

Chase was silent.

"I hadn't thought so far ahead." He finally admitted, "Honestly I didn't think the source to be all that credible."

"Why did you care?" Brooke finally asked, tired of all the bush beating.

Chase fell silent once again before suddenly pulling her back against him and pressing his lips to hers again. The kiss was rougher this time and Brooke, caught off guard, gasped at its suddenness. Chase lost no time in using the opportunity to deepen the kiss by slipping his tongue into Brooke's open mouth.

After the shock faded a bit, Brooke began to participate and all too soon, Chase pulled away again.

"That's why," he breathed, holding on to Brooke by her hips. "Immortality is more than just a curse, Brooke. It's can be a gift if you let it be. He let her go again. "You have obligations, connections, love ones that you don't want to lose. I understand that. But they, you, were destined to end one day anyway. But that's changed now, for you at least.

" So spend the time they have with them, as you would have. Spend their lifetime with them as you would have prior to this curse, and don't take any second with them for granted."

He paused.

"And when you find that all of them have gone and all that remains is you… Seek me out. I will be waiting for you."

Brooke struggled to keep the tears from falling as she smiled.

"Is that a promise?" she asked softly.

"You have my word."

Brooke looked up at the moon. The moon she hadn't thought she'd live to see.

"I'll hold you to it," she said looking back at Chase some two feet away, figuring this was as close as she was going to get to an "I love you".

"Goodbye then," Chase said, about to turn, when Brooke suddenly hooked him by his elbow and turned him around, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"It's more like a 'see you later'," she mused, before disappearing with a burst of white light from the deserted lawn.

**Chase's P.O.V.**

He stared at the spot where Brooke had just stood less than a second ago.

_Later…_ He thought bemusedly, still feeling the warmth of her lips against his cheek. Chase suddenly found that, for his timeless years that would ensue, he suddenly had something to look forward to.

**FIN!!!!! God there was a time when I never thought this day would come. I remember sitting near the astronomy building nearly a year ago with my friend, before physics class, talking about how I'd decided not to continue "About That Favor." Its taken me WAY longer than I would have EVER hoped and taught me a valuable lesson in the way of fic writing - Only do one shots from now on. Well, this is 4057 words long excluding authors notes, the LONGEST chapter I've EVER written in my history of writing, mind you, and I'm so glad to finally have this burden off of my chest. I regret that I've lost so many of my readers but I really could expect nothing more. I finished this more for me than anyone. And this is probably the last fic I will write for this fandom. Sasha, over and out. **


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